In Germany rental housing is more important than in most other  countries, especially in the cities. In the Ruhr metropolitan area nearly 68 % of all housing units are rented. Most of the buildings in this region were constructed during the decades of industrial growth, by coal and steel companies, trade unions and municipalities as part of the non-profit-housing-sector.  When the national government in 1989 abolished a law which protected non-profit-housing from being sold out, it opened the way for a deep  process of commodification and privatization of the existing housing stock. At the same time German governments alongside with the EU also liberalized financial markets.

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