"They're Pricing Us Out": Kreuzberg and Neukölln Residents Fight Back Against Berlin's Housing Crisis

Walking along Kottbusser Damm on a Tuesday afternoon, Kreuzberg's transformation is impossible to ignore. New apartment blocks tower over vintage Turkish bakeries. A studio flat that rented for €400 five years ago now commands €950. For residents who have called this neighbourhood home for decades, the mathematics of survival are becoming impossible.

"I grew up here. My children grew up here. Now my grandchildren can't afford to live here," says one long-time Kreuzberg resident, reflecting a sentiment echoing across Berlin's traditionally working-class eastern districts. The average rent in Kreuzberg has climbed 42 percent since 2019, according to data from the Berlin tenants' association, far outpacing wage growth and leaving thousands scrambling.

The crisis has galvanised community action. At a packed town hall in Neukölln last month, residents and activists outlined their frustrations with the Senate's housing strategy. The Mieterverein Berlin—the city's largest tenant advocacy group—has documented how speculative investment and short-term rental conversions have decimated long-term housing stock. Across Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district alone, nearly 8,000 apartments converted to tourist accommodation between 2015 and 2023.

"The city sold public land to developers, and now we're all paying the price," explains a spokesperson from the Neukölln-based housing collective Das Wilde, which has occupied vacant buildings to draw attention to the shortage. Their argument: Berlin has sufficient space, but political will is missing. Current city policy targets 20,000 new apartments annually, yet completion rates hover around 12,000.

Community groups demand the Senate expand rent-controlled housing stock, strengthen tenant protections, and halt the gentrification cycle consuming neighbourhoods along the Landwehr Canal and throughout Tempelhof-Schöneberg. Some advocate expanding the successful housing cooperative model, which currently shelters around 180,000 Berliners at below-market rates.

The stakes are personal and political. Young families, essential workers, and vulnerable populations face displacement. Teachers cannot afford neighbourhoods near schools. Healthcare workers commute two hours from suburbs. The fabric of Berlin's famous social diversity frays as economic segregation accelerates.

As Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf neighbourhoods increasingly become destinations for international wealth, the pressure intensifies on remaining affordable areas. Community representatives say they're not anti-development, but demand development serve Berliners—not hedge funds.

The Senate's next housing summit is scheduled for September. Residents are watching closely.

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