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Construction site in Cologne (archive picture):
Photo: Oliver Berg / picture alliance / dpa
Even after a good two years of the federal government's “housing offensive”, the real estate industry believes that important problems remain unsolved.
Affordable apartments and building land in the big cities remained scarce, said Andreas Ibel, President of the Federal Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies.
Together with other industry representatives, Ibel called for more speed on the way to more affordable housing.
The right course had been set, but: "It takes a jolt, a bazooka."
With this term, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced unlimited aid against the corona crisis last year.
At a “housing summit” on Tuesday, however, the federal government drew a largely positive interim assessment of the housing offensive agreed in September 2018.
"In my opinion, the balance sheet is really impressive," said Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
The goal of building 1.5 million apartments in this legislative period is "not out of reach".
But it is also clear that residential construction will remain a »permanent task«.
Federal Building Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) emphasized that the government had "implemented all central points".
Last year, despite the pandemic, 300,000 apartments were built.
That is the highest level in 20 years.
The five billion euros that the federal government is spending on social housing construction in this legislative period have also produced “great results”.
115,000 apartments are being built here, more than ever before.
The state development bank KfW confirms that the government is likely to miss its self-imposed target of 1.5 million new apartments in this electoral term.
KfW announced that new residential construction is increasing despite the corona crisis.
In the entire period from 2018 to 2021, however, a maximum of around 1.2 million apartments would be completed.
In the coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD had agreed at the beginning of 2018: "We want to achieve that 1.5 million apartments and homes are freely financed and publicly funded." to achieve the target would have had to have been built on average every year.
KfW estimates the need for new construction at 350,000 to 400,000 apartments annually.
In addition to the lack of building land in metropolitan areas, the shortage of skilled workers remains an obstacle to the expansion of residential construction.
"Housing remains scarce and expensive, especially in the growing metropolitan regions," said KfW chief economist Fritzi Köhler-Geib.
According to industry representatives, approval processes are still too complex and lengthy.
For the General Association of the German Housing Industry, which represents many large landlords, building and renovating in series has to be expanded - which would speed up the approval process.
Although this is now included in many building regulations, there are still reservations in some municipalities, said association president Axel Gedaschko.
»They still have in mind that record 2.0 would be built there.
It's not like this."
Greens see "devastating balance sheet"
The year-long increase in rents has come to an end, according to the Real Estate Association Germany.
The rising new building had shown effect, it said.
There is still some catching up to do in university towns, for example.
There are reservations in the real estate industry about considerations in the federal government to make the conversion of rental apartments into condominiums more difficult.
For many, this is an important component of retirement provision.
In the opinion of the Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt, the housing policy of the grand coalition has failed.
"The government's balance sheet is devastating: exploding rents, dwindling social housing, hardly affordable property for families in metropolitan areas, plus more vacancies and deserted town centers," said Göring-Eckardt.
The grand coalition "did not manage to alleviate the housing shortage in our cities, it even worsened it."
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