Germany’s biggest developer will be under pressure in Berlin

ROLF BUCH has no time to rest on his laurels. On October 4th the chief executive of Vonovia, Germany’s biggest residential-property firm, managed after a long ordeal to seal the creation of Europe’s biggest such company through a merger with Deutsche Wohnen (DW), its main rival. But DW comes with a new headache. In a non-binding referendum last month Berliners backed a proposal obliging all private firms that own more than 3,000 flats to sell them to the city, which could rent them out more cheaply. DW owns more than 110,000 flats in Berlin. Vonovia has another 43,000. A quarter of the combined firm’s properties are in the German capital (see chart).