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Berlin (German news agency) – The real estate association ZIA expects a gap of up to 700,000 residential units and 1.4 million apartment seekers for 2025. “The state is responsible for 37 percent of the costs of the ‘living product’,” said ZIA President Andreas Mattner of the “Bild” (Friday edition).
According to Empirica Regio, 23,177 apartments were missing in Berlin alone at the beginning of 2023. This makes the capital the sad leader. There is also a state of emergency in Hamburg (13,632) and in Munich (10,577 missing apartments). Recently, new figures from the Federal Statistical Office had shown that seniors live on average in significantly more square meters than younger people (44.7 square meters for young people, 68.5 for seniors). CDU construction politician Jan-Marco Luczak warned of social pressure “to have to vacate the apartments that are supposedly too large”. Luczak told the “Bild”: “Older people are in danger of being uprooted. That shouldn’t be.” On the other hand, according to economist Gunther Schnabl from the University of Leipzig: “Previously, the middle class rose through home ownership. Today, young people can no longer buy their own home without the help of their parents.” Schnabl calls for faster building permits as an urgent measure. “It has to be quicker now.” The FDP construction politician Frank Schäffler told the “Bild”: “The states must now reduce the real estate transfer tax.” In his opinion, this would also relieve the rental market.