The housing shortage has continued to worsen. Experts speak of a “one-way street” in housing construction. “There is something completely wrong,” says the president of the tenants’ association.
Germany is sliding ever deeper into the housing crisis. There is currently a shortage of around 800,000 apartments, especially small apartments with a price range of six to ten euros net rent per square meter. This is the result of a new study by the Working Group for Contemporary Building (ARGE).
“The housing crisis has worsened and this is hitting young people particularly hard,” says Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the German Tenants’ Association (DMB), to
BuzzFeed News Germany,
an
IPPEN.MEDIA portal.
The DMB is part of the Housing Construction Association, which will present the study for Housing Construction Day 2024 on April 11th.
More on the topic: Tenants' Association President sounds the alarm: rent increases endanger “social peace
Young people in housing crisis: “Standing in line with 60 others”
“Young people have smaller wallets than people who have already worked for 30 years,” says Siebenkotten. This financial situation puts them at a disadvantage not only when buying real estate, but also on the rental market. “When young people go looking for an apartment, they often find themselves standing in line with 60 others.” Many of them are forced to live with their parents for a long time due to the lack of living space. “I think that’s problematic,” he tells
BuzzFeed News Germany.
The ARGE study authors complain, especially because many older people live alone in apartments that are too large because they are not offered newly built, smaller and age-appropriate apartments. These apartments were then missing as an option for younger people in the phase of building a household and starting a family.
Many people asked themselves where all the people lived when 800,000 apartments are missing. The answer is simple: more and more people (11 percent) live in overcrowded apartments. For people at risk of poverty, it is even one in five. “And I’m not talking about shared apartments, where young people have significantly less space than an older couple in a house in the country,” says Siebenkotten. In Germany, sometimes seven people lived in a two-room apartment.
More on the topic: Debate about swapping apartments: Many people in Kassel live alone in larger apartments
Study warns of a “one-way street” in housing construction
“Our population is increasing due to immigration, which is necessary in times of skilled labor shortages. But housing construction is not keeping pace,” he criticizes at
BuzzFeed News Germany
. In the coalition agreement, the traffic light set out to build 400,000 apartments a year - 100,000 of which were socially funded. “In fact, she only managed around 300,000, and the trend is downwards,” says Siebenkotten. Things look even worse when it comes to social housing: only 25,000 of them were built. “There is something completely wrong.”
According to the ARGE study, the number of building permits for residential buildings in large parts of Germany has fallen by more than 50 percent compared to the previous year. The decline in the number of building applications by up to 80 percent in many regions is even more dramatic. The study authors warn of a “one-way street” in housing construction.
More on the topic: Crisis in construction: there is a lack of housing, but hardly any construction is taking place
“Back to building child benefit?”: Tenants’ Association President makes a suggestion
“It doesn’t work without building. But it’s not the only solution either,” says Siebenkotten. Housing must also remain affordable. “We need tenancy law instruments such as caps or increases,” demands Siebenkotten at
BuzzFeed News Germany
. There needs to be a rethinking of approval policy so that social housing rather than fancy furnished apartments is built. “In large cities like Berlin, more than half of the population is entitled to a housing entitlement certificate, which is of no use because there is hardly any social housing available.”
Can property support help? “Back to building child benefit? I only think that's a good idea if there's actually construction going on, if people get a subsidy because they build new apartments. Buying a condominium may be an alternative for some people who have the necessary capital. But then no new living space will be created, it will just be redistributed,” says Siebenkotten.