Housing is a hot topic currently, especially our inability as a country to provide enough homes that those on average incomes can rent or buy. Sometimes distance can lend perspective and the housing record in Berlin is certainly instructive

GESOBAU is one of just six municipal housing associations for the whole of Berlin (population 2.9m and growing) and 100% owned by Berlin Council. Originally founded in 1900 to house railway workers it has now part of a wider ambition to double the number of municipal owned properties to 400,000 by 2025.