Your tenants' association for carefree living in legal matters – become a member and benefit from the advantages!
0221 20237-0
99, -Euro per year
Six-year rent freeze now: Cologne Tenants' Association and DGB Cologne-Bonn demand clear measures against exploding rents
On the occasion of the nationwide day of action for the rent freeze campaign, people are taking to the streets in numerous cities today. In Cologne, too, the Cologne Tenants' Association and the DGB Cologne-Bonn are calling for an immediate six-year halt to rent increases as well as long-term structural measures to relieve the housing market.
In Cologne, asking rents have risen dramatically in recent years: According to the Empirica database, they climbed by 50 per cent between 2016 and 2025 – from an average of EUR 10 to EUR 15 per square metre. This development is putting tenants under enormous pressure.
"Rents are rising at a pace that many people can no longer keep up with. While incomes are stagnating, inflation and high energy costs are adding to the burden. We need an immediate rent freeze to stop social decline and displacement," says Franz-Xaver Corneth, Chairman of the Board of the Cologne Tenants' Association.
The DGB Cologne-Bonn is also sounding the alarm: access to affordable housing has long since become a social issue.
"Housing is a basic right - not a commodity. If more and more income goes on rent, there is no room for participation, education or retirement provision. Politicians must act now and put the common good back at the centre of housing policy," emphasises Witich Roßmann, Chairman of the DGB Cologne-Bonn.
The alliance of tenants' associations, trade unions and citizens' initiatives demands:
- A six-year nationwide rent freeze that provides immediate relief for tenants
- An effective rent freeze with real controls and sanctions
- More social and public housing
- The consistent introduction of a new non-profit status in the housing sector
- Better protection against displacement
- Clear municipal obligations to prioritise the common good over profit interests when building new homes
"We don't just need short-term corrections, but a real turnaround in housing policy. Without long-term strategies, the situation will continue to worsen," says Corneth.
"The cities must not stand idly by. Local authorities must be made responsible for creating social housing – on a permanent basis. Housing must not be a luxury," adds Roßmann.
On 27 May 2025, an action will take place in Cologne at 2.30 p.m. on Theo-Burauen-Platz as part of the nationwide Rent Stop Action Day, in which the DGB and tenants' association are participating.