in: Urban Austerity: Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on Cities in Europe, Verlag Theater der Zeit 2016
1. Introduction
In Germany, since 1999, more than three million rental housing units have been traded in the context of
large‐scale transactions. Sales to “financial investors” played a dominant role among these transactions. In
this article, I propose elements for a narrative that may help to understand the reasons for these
transactions.
Among the many financial investors present at MIPIM 2015 is the huge private equity firm Blackstone L.P., which calls itself “the world’s largest private sector owner of real estate assets”. Through buy outs of distressed subprime mortgages and other real estate assets it recently became a big landlord in the U.S. and in Spain. In both countries it is systematically raising rents. Tenants and bank tenants have started a transnational campaign against Blackstone.