September 26, 2021 was a bittersweet date for many Berliners. That day, a groundbreaking referendum to nationalize the properties owned by the city’s largest real estate companies passed with a resounding 59.1 percent majority — sparking jubilant disbelief among residents and housing campaigners across Europe. Widely called an “expropriation,” the move promises the compulsory buyback of both private builds and apartments which were once owned by the state.

Yet the same day also saw the Social Democrats (SPD) — a party openly opposed to this “expropriation” — come first in elections for the Berlin Senate. Such are the contradictions of democracy.

One explanation lies in the fact that many Berliners, including even some grassroots activists of the Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen (DWE) campaign pushing the referendum, learned only subsequently that the result was not in fact binding. In any case, it soon became clear that the new Senate’s makeup could create significant problems for the measure.