Avoid Berlin like cancer. Europe’s largest residential landlord Vonovia stands to lose more than €8bn from nationalisation plans in Berlin, as the prospective governing parties of the city discuss the socialisation of 140,000 apartments. The leftwing Die Linke, winner of the September state election, has agreed to coalition talks with the Social Democrats and the Greens over plans to transfer large apartment portfolios into public ownership in an effort to bring down rents in the capital. The proposal, which foresees compensation far below market values, could impose losses of more than €11bn on four major property companies relative to the levels at which the properties are held in their books, according to FT calculations.