Housing

The Norwegian billionaire and adventurer Ivar Tollefsen enters the Berlin market for residential real estate through the Swedish housing group Heimstaden Bostad, which he controls. For approximately €830 million he will buy 3902 apartments in central situations of Berlin, according to Heimastaden Bostad.

According to the company, the rental space totals 282,000 square meters. This means that these are smaller apartments and stores with an average floor area of just under 67 square meters.

Protest against the project has already been organized in some apartment buildings. The Berlin district Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg has stated that they are examining the possiblity of a exercising a pre-emptive right of purchase.

The orthopaedic surgeon, Joseph Alsousou, was forced to leave his apartment after the landlady cancelled the contract in fear of getting the coronavirus. In order to help other NHS workers facing the same problem, he set up a website to match them with citizens or companies that are willing to provide accommodation for NHS workers for free or at drastically reduced rates. The website is