The purpose of a system is what it does.

I’m just very disappointed with the housing politics in Germany. There’s a huge gap between the demand and the supply, and a lot of it is held up by the Bauämter and a lot is influenced by the numerous regulations which make housing the most expensive in Germany out of its neighboring European countries where the excuse of expensive labour doesn’t come into the picture. Meanwhile living in Berlin, I see new office towers and malls and other commercial real estate popping up much more frequently than housing of similar size. A tower with 500 offices is cool, but where are those 500 people going to live? On top of that, most city officials are against WFH because it reduces their tax base and tax receipts from fewer people ordering or going to lunch, sandwiches in the morning, after-work drinks and so on.

Also my point is that housing stays rare and unaffordable, and a certain class absolutely benefits from that – the current owners of property. If they can restrict supply, their land retains or appreciates in value. The same people may not be invested in commercial real estate, or may be trying to increase the RTO movement at the same time.