Status: 05/02/2023 12:12 p.m
Rents in Lower Saxony continued to rise in the past year. There were double-digit price jumps even in rural areas, as NDR Lower Saxony found out exclusively from the Federal Ministry of Building. An overview.
Renting has become more expensive again in Lower Saxony in 2022. The average cold rent per square meter was 7.81 euros. This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of Building to a request from the left-wing member of the Bundestag Victor Perli from Wolfenbüttel. According to Perlis Büro, this is the strongest average increase in first-time and re-letting rents in the past 12 years. The most expensive living space is therefore in the district of Harburg. Here tenants pay an average of 10.50 euros cold per square meter. The second most expensive is Lüneburg at 10 euros. The cities are just behind them Göttingen (€9.68 cold per sqm), Oldenburg (€9.64), Osnabrück (€9.20), the district of Stade (€9.52) and the Hanover region (€9.36). Last year, “rents in 30 districts and urban districts in Lower Saxony rose by more than 5 percent,” said Perli. “They explode with it almost everywhere in the country.”
Rent index: the districts of Holzminden and Lüchow-Dannenberg are the cheapest
Lots of dikes, few people: Lower Saxony’s easternmost district (Lüchow-Dannenberg) is the district in Germany with the fewest inhabitants. (archive image)
The cheapest places to live are in the districts of Holzminden and Lüchow-Dannenberg. Here, tenants pay an average of less than 6 euros per square meter. The average price per square meter is also under 7 euros in the districts of Wesermarsch, Northeim, Nienburg, Goslar and Hameln-Pyrmont, as well as in the independent cities of Salzgitter and Wilhelmshaven.
Rental prices are also climbing in the country – for example in Delmenhorst
But the trend continues to point upwards. In some rural regions in particular, rents rose sharply between 2021 and 2022. Rents in Delmenhorst rose by more than 13 percent, in the districts of Aurich and Osterholz by around 11 percent and in the district of Northeim by 10 percent.
Large cities nearby – higher rents
The metropolitan region of Hamburg stretches deep into Lower Saxony. That’s why rents are rising there, say experts. (archive image)
Reinold von Thadden, legal counsel at the Lower Saxony-Bremen tenants’ association, explains this on the one hand with a catch-up effect. Because living in these districts and cities has so far been relatively cheap. On the other hand, it is noticeable, according to von Thadden, that these counties are located near larger cities where rents have been high for a long time. People would now apparently switch to the closer surroundings of these expensive residential areas. Delmenhorst and Osterholz could be interesting for people from Bremen, as well as the district of Northeim for those for whom Göttingen is too expensive.
Price plateau reached in expensive regions?
On the other hand, rents have risen only moderately in the municipalities where living has been relatively expensive up to now – such as in the Hanover region, in the Harburg district, in Braunschweig, Oldenburg and Osnabrück. There are also districts and cities in Lower Saxony where average rents have fallen: in Cloppenburg, Cuxhaven and Wolfsburg, for example. Reinhold von Thadden from the tenants’ association explains: A lot has been built in Wolfsburg in recent years, which now seems to be relaxing the housing market. Rents will only go down if supply goes up. That is why von Thadden considers building to be more effective in the long term than rent control.
Perli: “Politics must ensure affordable housing for everyone”
In any case, the member of the Bundestag Perli sees politics as a duty. “Politics must guarantee affordable housing for everyone,” emphasized Perli. “For many, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pay for rising rents and energy costs,” he said. Especially people with small and middle incomes are heavily burdened. “The previous attempts by the federal and state governments to slow down the rise in rents have failed miserably in almost all cities and districts,” says Perli. The left is therefore demanding a rent freeze. This could make it significantly more difficult for landlords to charge higher rents than the local comparative rent, the politician told NDR Lower Saxony.
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