Moving to a smaller apartment can be facilitated by reducing your possessions, which may include furniture and other household items, that currently reside on your land.

In a move aimed at addressing the high demand for larger apartments in Berlin, the Association of Berlin-Brandenburg Housing Companies (BBU) has announced an initiative that will allow tenants of state-owned housing companies to move to smaller apartments without incurring any additional rental charges.

According to the BBU, this apartment change will not involve any transfer between the seven state-owned housing companies. Instead, each company will offer up to three alternative apartments within a year to tenants whose current apartments have become too large.

The new apartment offered will be at the local comparative rent without an additional rental charge. While the new apartment will be at least one room and at least 10 square meters smaller than the previous one, tenants will still enjoy a living space of just under 75 square meters, on average, as per the 2022 statistics for Berlin.

Berlin's Senator for Urban Development, Christian Gaebler (SPD), stated that the offer ensures apartments better match the living situations of people. He further emphasised that the initiative will not only benefit the tenants themselves but also the city of Berlin, as it aims to address the high demand for larger apartments and allocate them to households that urgently need more space.

It's worth noting that around half of the total almost 1.9 million households in Berlin were single households. Almost one in seven single households in Berlin lived on at least 80 square meters, indicating a significant number of households with larger apartments than necessary.

The move will be coordinated to avoid any double burden, and tenants of the seven state housing companies who want to move to smaller apartments are to be given priority for such moves until the end of the year 20XX, as part of a new model planned by the Berlin Senate to facilitate efficient housing distribution starting September 20XX.

This apartment change will initially only take place within the portfolio of the respective company, not between the seven companies. Larger apartments that become vacant due to this change will be allocated to households that urgently need more space in Berlin.

In conclusion, the apartment change initiative is a step towards more efficient housing distribution in Berlin, ensuring that apartments better match the living situations of people and addressing the high demand for larger apartments in the city.

Moving to a smaller apartment can be facilitated by reducing your possessions, which may include furniture and other household items, that currently reside on your land.