The association alliance for housing construction also calls for the roof increase to be promoted.
Photo: IMAGO/Jochen Tack
Housing construction is threatened with collapse. In any case, a broad alliance of players in the construction and real estate industry, the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) and the German Tenants’ Association warns of this on Thursday at their housing construction day. Residential construction is still in good shape, explains Dietmar Walberg, head of a study commissioned by the alliance from the Kiel building research institute Arge. “The capacities available today are sufficient to build 400,000 new apartments per year,” says Walberg. However, under the condition that construction is also possible, namely “without crippling approval processes, without restrictive regulations and conditions, and with functioning financing, above all with funding adapted by the federal and state governments”. It’s not a construction problem, it’s a financing problem.
“Never before has there been such a high demand for more than 700,000 apartments, such high construction costs, such high jumps in interest rates and, above all, such high requirements and regulations for building as today,” says Walberg, summarizing the study results. The goal of the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP of wanting to build 400,000 new apartments can hardly be achieved under the current conditions. Even Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) has already admitted that the new building target for 2023 will not be achieved.
The alliance of seven associations and organizations is calling for subsidies of at least 50 billion euros from the federal and state governments for social housing construction by 2025. Only with the additional funds could it be possible to achieve the coalition goal of 100,000 newly built social housing units per year. The alliance is also demanding more money for the creation of affordable housing. For 60,000 apartments with a basic rent of between 8.50 euros and 12.50 euros, at least another 22 billion euros are necessary in this legislative period. In addition to the “billion booster in funding”, according to the alliance, there is also a need for a consistent review of laws, regulations and standards.
“It’s about drastically reducing cost drivers and lowering standards,” says Walberg. The results of the study show that municipalities with new regulations, for example in noise and fire protection or in the material for building facades, make the square meter of new buildings around 170 euros more expensive on average. Accordingly, more than 400 euros go to the federal account. The alliance is therefore also calling for “significant reductions in conditions” to make building cheaper again.
In addition, every square meter must be used, especially in metropolitan regions. Roof additions on commercial units such as supermarkets, but also on existing residential buildings would have to be “finally” pushed ahead. In metropolitan regions in particular, where there is the greatest shortage of housing, it is important “to use every square meter to convert and add floors”.
“It’s now five past twelve, something must finally be done if we want to avoid social upheaval in the long term,” said Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the German Tenants’ Association at the press conference on Housing Construction Day. According to Siebenkotten, however, the subsidies would also have to be used for existing apartments so that currently affordable apartments that are energy-optimized remain affordable afterwards.
The Ifo Institute also published housing construction figures on Thursday. According to this, 16 percent of housing construction companies currently state that they have canceled orders. A similarly high value as in January and February.
“The full braking of an industry turns into a serious socio-political crisis with all the negative consequences for our economy and society,” warns Dirk Salewski, President of the Federal Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies at the Housing Day. Hannes Zapf, chairman of the German Society for Masonry and Housing Construction, says that in this legislative period, if not even this year, it will be decided “whether we will have a balanced housing market in 2030”.
According to the alliance, the required funding of at least 50 billion euros should be made available as a special fund, similar to the Bundeswehr. Federal Building Minister Geywitz has already made it clear that this is a matter of debt – and that the state’s options for borrowing are limited.