Last week, Berlin announced two new developments that could change the face of renting in the city. First, the House of Representatives approved a new digital system unlike anything seen elsewhere in Germany: a "rent register", or central database cataloguing every single apartment in the city – and landlords are legally required to submit information. Second, the Senate launched a new online portal through which tenants can directly report their rent to their local Bezirksamt if they suspect it is more than 20 per cent above the legal limit for a flat like theirs.
Talking about the launched of the rental register, Senator for Urban Development Christian Gaebler (SPD) announced."It will now become clear more quickly: Where are those who are violating the law?"
HEIST is a worker-owned online magazine, founded by writers and editors who after years working across Berlin's media landscape believed something essential was missing.
Anyone living here has felt a growing gap between the city as it actually is and the version being served up by mainstream outlets. We experienced that disconnect firsthand. We saw political censorship shape coverage decisions and felt the weight of billionaire ownership land directly on our work. It reached a point where we could either keep going along with it, or try to build something better.
That's why we created HEIST.
And look at you: scrolling, clicking, squinting at blurred text just to get a little further. If you'll go to that much effort to read HEIST, you can surely give us one email. That's the whole price, and the rest of the story is right behind it.
Real journalism costs money. We commission the hard-hitting, well-reported, long-form work everyone wants to read but nobody seems to publish anymore.
The future of this city is still in the balance. We intend to be part of that struggle. We hope that you'll join us.
