Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has extended the "Milieuschutz" area Hornstrasse

Since January 30, the Hornstrasse preservation area "Milieuschutzgebiet" in Kreuzberg (Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) also includes the "Riehmers Hofgarten" residential complex between Yorckstrasse and Hagelberger Strasse. According to the district, it is part of Apartment Block 205, to which the conservation statute, i.e. environmental protection, now also applies.

Bild von Karlheinz Pape

Above all, it says that so-called luxury modernizations are prohibited. This includes, for example, the addition of a second hand-basin in the bathroom, but also, and apparently there, with particular attention, the possible merging of smaller apartments into larger ones.

Modernizations to produce a contemporary equipment of the apartments are still permitted as well as energetic renovations, but must be approved in advance. The goal, as in all social protection areas, is to make the currently resident population more secure from being priced out.

The conversion to condominiums cannot be prevented by the Milieuschutz statutes. However, they are subject to strict requirements like selling to sitting tenants only for a set period

The Hornstrasse Conservation Area had already been expanded by several blocks around the Victoria Park in March 2019. According to the district office, there are now almost 8,400 households in this protected area.

The implications for property owners are summarized here:
https://germanproperties.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-can-do-and-cant-do-renovating.html

Berlin's Newest Area Protected Against Gentrification is in Lichtenberg

The newest area for "Milieuschutz" is in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the first one in the district. While a research project in 2016 came to the conclusion that there is no pressure on the existing social structure and tenants are safe from gentrification a recent update of the data showed that more than 50% of the current tenants in the area are under threat of being pushed out by the price development. So the local council voted and passed a measure to protect a specific area from certain changes. The measure is known a "Milieuschutz" or more formally as "Erhaltungsgebiet" and was passed in the district assembly on 17.05.2018 which became effective a few days later with its publication. The area is called "Erhaltungsgebiet Weitlingstraße"

"Erhaltungsgebiet Weitlingstraße", Click for full size

For more information about the consequences for owners please view:
The Can Do and Can't Do Renovating Apartments in Certain Areas of Berlin

We are consulting owners on how to optimise their properties in protected areas.

Property Risk Analysis for 12 districts and 96 Boroughs of Berlin

Alt-Treptow is currently Berlin's most attractive district for residential investment.

This is the result of the risk-return ranking of Dr. Ing. Lübke & Kelber, in which for the first time all twelve districts and 96 boroughs of the capital were analyzed.

Alt-Treptow, which borders Kreuzberg in the north of the Treptow-Köpenick district, scores points in both the existing and new construction segment. There, as well as in Rummelsburg and Konradshöhe in the portfolio segment as well as Wilhelmsruh and Rosenthal in the new-build segment, the recoverable property and equity returns would exceed the recommended risk-adjusted minimum return the most. Lübke & Kelber. Overall, the districts in the north of Berlin (Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow, Französisch Buchholz and Weißensee) had the lowest risk for investment in residential real estate. The highest risk premiums would result for the districts in the southwest.

The Property Location of Berlin Rudow and Current Market Data

General location

Rudow is one of Brandenburg's oldest settlements. The city quarter is located in the extreme southeast of Berlin's Neukölln district which was also the border to East-Berlin and the East German “Bezirk Potsdam” area. In the north, it borders the districts of Buckow and Britz, in the east the Berlin borough of Treptow, in the south the Brandenburg district of Schönefeld, and in the west, the Brandenburg district of Großziethen.

About Rudow

Center of the former village is to this day the village church from the 13th century. Urban Rudow is very similar to the north Buckow: a lot of green, single and multi-family houses, some residential blocks. There are even a few farms. In the industrial area between Kanalstraße and Teltowkanal, several large industrial branches have also settled.

By means of the subway line U7 (stations: Wutzkyallee, Zwickauer Damm, Rudow) and several bus lines, Rudow is well connected to the Berlin transport network.

Impressions of Rudow

Rudow is the largest residential building project. Since 1994 around 1,200 new apartments, terraced and double houses have been built. A popular excursion destination is the 70-meter high Rudower Höhe on the Glashütter Weg, made of rubble from bombed houses after WW II, with a large toboggan run. From the old village core to the town boundary on the Kleinziethener Weg, the restored Rudower brook flows.

The new development "Rudower Felder" is framed by parking facilities. In the north, a regional green area is defined as a distance zone to the existing building development. In the south, a supra - regional greenway is to connect to Brandenburg. The actual settlement structure is structured by a main road running east to west, which crosses the diagonally guided subway in a central square. The residential blocks stretch north-south between the main road and the respective green line in the north or south.

Anyone who lives in Rudow enjoys the contrast between the cityscape and rural idyll, and finally the transition to the fields of Brandenburg. It would be exaggerated to use the attribute village character when it comes to Rudow, it gives rather a small town impression.

As a historical anecdote: Rudow was also the location where the CIA started "Operation Gold" in 1954 tapping a telecomunications cable of the Red Army from Berlin to their headquarters in Wünsdorf outside Berlin. Read more here if you want to know the outcome: Operation Gold 

 Rudow is part of the Berlin borough of Neukölln.
 

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

It is mainly made up by the postcode 12355 at rent level tier 6 of 8:  

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

We currently are offering an investment property in the 12355 post code area. This area will strongly benefit from the eventual opening of the new Berlin Airport BER without being affected by its flight paths. The location is to the north of the airport while the flightpaths are in east-west orientation. Please contact us for more detailed information using http://www.berlin-portfolio.com/InvestmentRequest.html

To download the full Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 please leave your email, you will receive it immediately.

Berlin Mitte in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2017

The borough or district of “Mitte“ in its current form was shaped by the administrative reform of 2001. It is made up by three former independent districts. “Mitte” which is the historic origin of Berlin, government and cultural centre and part of former East Berlin, Wedding and Tiergarten which were previously part of West Berlin. Especially Berliners will still make this differentiation, especially when looking for a new home. Just comparing the average rents, the old boundaries are still visible but so is the push of higher rents from the centre out (on the right in the map below).

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

Mitte has the areas with the highest rents in the city. The basic rent or net rent (excluding utilities and heating) in the top market segment is in the postcode area 10117 around Friedrichstrasse at 20.87 €/m²/month and the highest average rent in the top market segment in the 10178 postcode area at 13.80 €/m²/month.


At the same time the postcode area 10117 around “Unter den Linden” has relatively low rents at 6.02 €/m²/month in the bottom market segment which ranks only at No.119 looking at the entire city.

The table below shows the full coverage of the district. It also provides detailed information of the income structure (purchasing power) of the households in relation to the average housing cost in the area including ancillary costs (heating and utilities etc.) paid to the landlord. Directly paid cost like electricity, telephone etc. are not included.

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

To download the full Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 please leave your email, you will receive it immediately.

Highest rent increases in Berlin's peripheral districts in 2014

The willingness to pay higher rents has reached its limits in the central districts of Berlin, e.g. in Mitte the average rent is above 10 €/m² (net rent per month).

This has an effect on areas in North Moabit, Wedding and Lichtenberg, but also on peripheral city areas such as Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, where the percentage rent increase is far above average. The district of Lichtenberg recorded a 12.2 per cent rent increase in 2014, with a current average asking rent of € 7.98 per square metre.

Detailed data down to post code areas is shown in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2015 which is available on our website. Just follow the link above to get your free copy of the report.

Why is Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg still a Property Investment Destination

Prenzlauer Berg

Right from the beginning of the discovery of Berlin as a Property Investment Hotspot for International Investors in 2004 the area of Prenzlauer Berg or "Prenzlberg" to the locals was one of the focus points. It soon became too expensive for reasonable investments and there still was a lot to do. At this point many tenants and investors tuned to the neighboring Friedrichshain. Still today Friedrichshain is more "studenty" whereas Prenzlauer Berg is more "Bohemian" with a higher level of rents (and income). Here is some backgound information:

Prenzlauer Berg was developed during the second half of the 19th century based on an urban planning design from 1862 by James Hobrecht, the so-called Hobrecht Plan for Berlin. Envisaged as a working-class district, its tenement houses (in German: Mietskasernen) were mainly inhabited by intellectuals, artists, and students in the former German Democratic Republic.

This area of former East Berlin is now perhaps the most sought after area to live for professionals and young families.  The area was relatively unscathed by Second World War bombing, leaving street after street of intact 19th and early 20th century apartment buildings.  It offers an abundance of beautiful pre-war ‘Altbau’ buildings, the vast majority of which have been completely restored since unification of the city.  Rising property values have led to more wealthy residents moving into some areas of the borough.

It is close to central Berlin and has a lively café, bar and restaurant scene as well as several parks and green spaces. Popular places to go out include Kastanienallee, Kollwitzplatz (home to the sculptor Käthe Kollwitz), with its excellent Saturday market, Kulturbrauerei (an expansive brewery which has been transformed into a centre for culture and evening entertainment) and Helmholtzplatz.   Keeping in rhythm with a slower, more livable pace, this area also abounds with several weekly street markets and the world-famous Mauer Park Flea Market every Sunday.  This area is also home to countless advertising, design and media firms and traditionally the bohemian quarter of East Berlin,this is still a haven for artists and alternative culture, despite gentrification.

Some of the Highlights of Prenzlauer Berg

The varied history of Berlin comes to life in this neighborhood through its many diverse cultural and social offerings. Truly this is one of the most interesting places to take in all that this reborn city has to offer, which also makes for an ideal property investment opportunity in Berlin.

Over a period of only 3 years the purchase prices for apartments in Prenzlauer Berg rose from 2,300 €/m² to 3,000 €/m² while the rents in the same time span went from 7.30 €/m²/month to 9.24 €.

Because of its ambiace Prenzlauer Berg is attractive as a location for condos to be used by he investor as much as a buy to let investment in rented apartments. Attractive developments with excellent potential and both options are coming up for sale . More detailed information can be found here: www.falkenberg-solutions.com.

Property Listing for Berlin, Germany 30.07.2012

The new Property Listing from Properties-in-Berlin.com is now available at their website.

Demand is still high and despite the summer break many purchases were notarized but it seem that the price hike at the beginning of the year has flattened out.

Financing with a reasonable LTV is still an obstacle for many investors, espacially for investment volumes between 1 to 5 million Euro. As always, equity dictates the market.

The residential rent levels have risen significantly throughout the last two years so that we can expect that the next official Rent Table for Berlin which should come out May 2013 for some regions will be up by more than 15%. This mean that existing rental contracts can be checked for increase potential. It might be wise to hold back with increases right now as the rent has to remain unchanged for 15 months after an increase.

More information available on www.falkenberg-solutions.com.