"Almost like in the class struggle": Voted several times in the market town council, and in the end nothing decided

It will no longer be possible to develop a new development area like this in Markt Schwaben, as the municipality in the north of the district is simply far too small in terms of area. But how do you deal with land use at the municipal level? And how do you make them as social as possible? © Dpa

It was not possible to agree in the market town council on a regulation to make land use more socially just. Ergo: For the time being, everything will remain the same as always.

Markt Schwaben – Being the smallest municipality in the Ebersberg district in terms of area, says Mayor Michael Stolze, is somehow a curse and a blessing for him at the same time. But it is a curse because there is now almost no room for the development of new contiguous building areas. According to the administration, the remaining options are limited to only a few owners.

In practice, this means that if any major measures were to be taken through new building law, it could take ten or more years for a further development step to take place.

SPD refers to Article 161 in the Bavarian Constitution

According to the municipality, the current market situation in terms of interest rates and construction costs, with a simultaneous standstill on the housing construction market, shows that hardly any influence can be exerted by regulatory interventions. For this reason, according to Stolze, it makes little sense to let a so-called "SoBoN" directive come into force now.

SoBoN stands for "Socially Equitable Land Use". This refers to a set of rules within a municipality for the conclusion of urban development contracts with the aim of using planning-related increases in the value of land directly for the provision of affordable housing.

Fundamental considerations of this kind have existed in the market town for a good two years. An SPD motion is dated July 12, 2021. Its content: Enactment of a guideline on socially just land use for Markt Schwaben. In principle, a good way, as Stolze now commented in the market town council, but not one that would be feasible for the market town; due to a lack of potential building land.

CSU counters: Investing in new buildings must remain attractive

As far as its development is concerned, the guardrails in the village are clear: from the current 14500, the aim is to grow to a maximum of 15500 inhabitants. However, the living space required for this is to be created primarily through densification, at best it could still be a matter of building on the edges.

The Council had already begun in December 2021 to deepen the topic of SoBoN in a working group. But the talks went in such a way that it was not possible to agree on a proposal for the local council. The SPD, the Greens and the ZMS have recently proven to be supporters of a directive that is formulated quite strictly from the point of view of property owners and potential investors. SPD leader Manfred Kabisch, for example, says: "In Markt Schwaben there are many who cannot create their own housing". SoBoN could contribute to more fairness and a fairer distribution of the remaining land. In addition, the Bavarian Constitution alone obliges such measures. Article 161 states: "Increases in the value of the land that occur without any special labour and capital expenditure on the part of the owner shall be made available to the general public". Kabisch: "That's pretty clear."

However, the Free Voters, the CSU and the FDP are against strict rules on the skimming off of profits. Their argument is that if profits have to be paid through possible increases in value before a new construction project is realized, the motivation of those who want to invest in residential construction goes completely into the basement. You don't need a new bureaucratic monster, says CSU spokesman Heinrich Schmitt. And he adds: The last thing we need now is a social class struggle. Rather, new and affordable housing is created by finding a better solution in the implementation of parking space statutes. Ancillary construction costs are also far too high. Schmitt: "It must remain interesting for the investor to build, for example."

Working group cannot put compromise proposal to the vote

Mayor Stolze stated: Everyone in the plenary wants the same thing, namely as much affordable housing as possible. Only the ways to get there would probably be seen very differently. However, a compromise supported by all political groups failed despite, or perhaps because of, several roll-call votes in the Council. In any case, the SPD motion was shot down, as was a compromise proposal by the CSU/FDP and the Free Party, so that at the end of the debate Stolze could only state: We have a strange result here, but we all took a lot of time and thus signaled that there had been a lot of sensitivity involved on all sides. In other words, although the Council had voted several times, it had not decided anything, which will remain at the level before July 2021 for the time being. In other words, creating building rights where possible. And incorporate social components not as a general requirement, but in individual cases via urban development contracts.

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