Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen

The 2021 Berlin referendum, formally referred to as Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen (English: Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.) or DW enteignen, was a referendum held and passed in Berlin in 2021. Voters were asked if they approved of the expropriation of the property of private real-estate companies with 3,000 or more units in the city, through public purchases by the Berlin state government. This would affect 243,000 rental apartments out of 1.5 million total apartments in Berlin. The largest such real-estate company is Deutsche Wohnen, for which the initiative is named, followed by Vonovia. In total, the referendum would impact 12 large real-estate companies.

The initiative for the referendum was originally launched in 2018, but the emergence of a new tenant movement in Berlin dates back to the early 2010s, including a first rent-referendum in 2015 called "Mietenvolksentscheid". The new referendum successfully passed the first signature-collecting phase in July 2019, receiving at least 58,000 valid signatures of the 20,000 required; and the second phase in June 2021, receiving at least 175,000 of the 170,000 required.

The referendum took place on 26 September 2021 alongside the state and federal election. The expropriation proposal passed the legal quorum of 25% of eligible voters being in favour and a majority of votes, receiving the approval of 57.6% of voters, with 39.8% voters against. The result is non-binding.

Exactly two years later on 26 September 2023, the campaign announced plans for a second referendum, which would be legally binding unlike the previous one.