On April 6, tens of thousands of Berliners will demonstrate against soaring rents. With 85 percent of the German capital’s residents renting their homes, protests against real estate speculation and rising prices have already won broad public sympathy.

Last year, 25,000 people joined a tenant-organized rally against “rent madness.” If this year´s protest will likely be of similar size, it also promises something new: campaigners are now demanding a referendum on socializing the assets of all landlords who own more than 3,000 apartments in the city.

The idea of such a vote has been publicly discussed since 2018, and polls this January showed over 50 percent support for expropriating the big landlords. Unlike many other petitions filling up activists’ spam folders, the Berlin vote could ultimately lead to a law, as Germany allows for popular legislation by referendum at the state level.