Status: 04/17/2023 5:49 p.m
Because the baby boomers are now retiring, the need for age-appropriate living space is increasing. But poverty is also increasing, according to a study. The situation is not only getting worse in Schleswig-Holstein.
122,000 senior-friendly apartments will be needed in Schleswig-Holstein by 2040 – this is the result of the housing social study “Living in Age” by the Pestel Institute in Hanover, which was presented on Monday. According to this, 3.3 million age-appropriate apartments will be needed across Germany in around twenty years – because then more than 21 million people in Germany will be older than 67 years old, around 3.6 million more than today. However, according to the study commissioned by the Federal Association of German Building Materials Specialists, the housing market is not prepared for this. According to the results, only every seventh apartment is age-appropriate.
Reasons: baby boomers, poverty in old age and immigration
The situation will get worse in the next few years, warns the head of the Postel Institute, Matthias Günther, in an interview with NDR Schleswig-Holstein. The reason for this is that the baby boomer generation will soon be of an age when they need senior-friendly housing. At the same time, however, poverty in old age is increasing and more apartments are needed due to immigration. “If housing construction really collapses and immigration remains at a high level, then we’ll get into a situation where I don’t really know how to handle it,” says Matthias Günther. A large part of the existing barrier-free apartments are not even inhabited by older people. “I mean, what nobody wants is that they end up taking coercive measures by reassigning people to housing, as happened immediately after the war.”
Demand: Half a billion euros per year for senior-friendly housing
Günther is therefore calling on the federal government to focus more on age-appropriate housing and to give more money for it. In his opinion, half a billion euros per year should be made available for age-appropriate new buildings and conversions. This is intended to enable senior citizens to stay in their own four walls for as long as possible. He keeps hearing that older people would like to stay in their apartment or house, but have no money, for example to remove steps, make doors wider or convert the shower, reports the head of the NDR Schleswig-Holstein institute.
Association of North German Housing Companies: Fears unfounded
The director of the association for North German housing companies, Andreas Breitner, also observed that many people would really like to stay in their own four walls for as long as possible. On the free housing market, on the other hand, low-barrier apartments are not in such high demand. He therefore also thinks it makes sense for the state to support the conversion of apartments. “The fact is, we need more low-barrier apartments and we also need more converted houses. If there are government subsidies for this: wonderful! It won’t work without government subsidies,” says Breitner. But nobody should be afraid of the housing situation of the future: “I think we have enough fears among the population at the moment. We are afraid of not staying healthy, we are afraid of the war and now we shouldn’t be dealing with this one as well Fraternize fear, but everyone should think about how they can live in old age.”
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