Status: 25/09/2023, 17:13 p.m.
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View of apartment buildings in the city center. © Julian Stratenschulte/dpa/Symbolbild
Many people depend on social housing. There are fewer and fewer of them in Thuringia. More money would be needed – including from the federal government, the ministry said.
Erfurt - The number of social housing in Thuringia is falling - despite countermeasures through new construction and modernization. The current stock of social housing in the Free State is 12,535 - almost 5000 less than in 2015, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Infrastructure on Monday on request in Erfurt. According to forecasts, by 2030 a further 6100 apartments would fall out of the occupancy and rent control, which is usually valid for 20 years. At a construction summit on Monday at the Chancellery in Berlin, it will be discussed how the sluggish housing construction in Germany can be boosted.
"We are trying to at least slow down the decline in social housing with a state program," said the ministry spokesman in Erfurt. Thuringia is providing around 70 million euros for social housing this year. But there would have to be more money, and the federal government was also called upon, according to the spokesman.
Last year, the construction of 224 new social housing units was approved, as well as 204 modernizations. Since 2016, a total of 1800 new social housing units have been built, according to the ministry.
However, anyone who wants to build in Thuringia at the moment will have to dig deeper into their pockets than they did a year ago. According to the State Statistical Office, prices for the construction of new residential buildings in August were 7.9 percent higher than in the same month last year.
The construction industry and economists see the simultaneous rise in construction prices and interest rates as the main reason for the slump in housing construction. Compared to 2015, according to the statisticians, construction prices in Bavaria have risen by 79.6 percent, particularly sharply in the past three years.
During this time, the development was characterized by the sharp rise in material and energy prices as a result of the Corona pandemic and the Ukraine war, the state office explained.
Before the construction summit, the German government presented a package with 14 points to enable more housing construction again. More support for families in buying or building their own homes, new tax benefits for construction projects or the abandonment of planned energy standards are planned. In addition, in the period from 2022 to 2027, programme titles totalling 18.15 billion euros are to be made available to the federal states for social housing". In cities and municipalities with tight housing markets, the construction of affordable housing is to be simplified and accelerated. Dpa
