This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Berlin’s state cabinet has agreed on a rent freeze for five years to counter rising housing costs in the German capital.

The city’s leftwing coalition government wants to freeze the rent for apartments built before 2014, according to a report by the German news agency dpa.

Only a minority of Berliners own their homes or apartments and rent has been rising sharply in recent years, forcing many to move outside the city.

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The city had been a low-rent mecca for many years, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 opened the gates to the economically depressed former communist east of the city. This gave rise to an influx of artists and others seeking a more bohemian way of life.

The proposal to freeze rents needs approval by the state parliament.