The tenants affected by the rising rents live in high-rise buildings owned by the private companies Hermes and GSW. These properties have been subsidized for more than three decades in order to provide affordable housing for people in this Kreuzberg neighborhood. However, due to a lack of subsidies from the city in recent years, rents have risen steadily, with the result that most residents have to spend almost half their income on rent.
In November 2011, the tenants' association of Kottbusser Tor, in conjunction with tenants' associations from other districts of Berlin, presented their demands for a solution to the problem to the relevant authorities. In a 35-page document, the associations remind the authorities that the electorate of Berlin's ruling parties comes from the city's tenants and therefore demand that “you use all the means at your disposal to meet the basic need of all people living in Berlin – namely affordable housing.” more. If the tenants' associations' demands are not met, the associations say, those responsible risk “a wave of civil disobedience.”
According to information on their website, their demands include the following: an immediate reduction in rents and the introduction of a rent cap of €4, as well as a long-term reduction in cost-based rents in social housing. Communalization of social housing and establishment of a working conference on social housing in Berlin consisting of experts from rental and urban policy, science, law, and economics, as well as tenant initiatives, in order to develop sustainable solutions for the tenants affected.
Since the dialogue between tenants, politicians, and the private companies that own the high-rise buildings did not yield any positive results, the Kotti& Co. tenant initiative began a permanent protest in May 2012. A so-called Gecekondu (Turkish: house built overnight) was erected in the southern part of Kottbusser Tor opposite the Südblock café and serves as a center and contact point for the protests of the tenants and their supporters. The tenants' association publishes current events and all information about the ongoing protests on its website
Kotti & Co.
