There are still jobs in Berlin. At least with the state. The Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing is currently looking for several “clerks with an interest in pursuing excessive rents.” There should be enough applicants for this. And of course rent control is a full-time job (“39.4 hours per week”) in the capital, which is plagued by a chronic housing shortage.

The subtext is clear: the problem is big, but if anyone can get it under control, it will be the administration. Practically, the work for the positions is created at the same time. Berlin wants to introduce a digital rent register, as the parliamentary group leaders of the CDU and SPD confirmed after a joint parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday evening. Landlords should soon report to the office, among other things, how big their apartment is, where it is located and what rent they charge. So that an authority can then check who is collecting too much. Although: Perhaps this is also done by an AI that then compares the information with the local rent index. But why do you actually need clerks?