The president of the construction industry association fears the “loss of around 100,000 jobs” due to the slump in housing construction. He sees politics as having a duty.
In view of the crisis in housing construction, the construction industry and the IG BAU union have once again called on politicians to take countermeasures. The President of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry, Wolfgang Schubert-Raab, told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”: “If the slump in housing construction continues like this, we will not only face a wave of insolvencies next year, but also the loss of around 100,000 jobs.”
By September, around 77,000 fewer apartments had been approved than in the same period last year. There is also a wave of cancellations. In view of the billion-dollar hole in the federal budget, investors must now quickly receive clarity about the framework conditions for the next few years, demanded the head of the association. If subsidies are cut and conditions become even worse, housing construction will collapse for years.
The chairman of IG Bau, Robert Feiger, told the newspaper: “There are still orders on the books, but the inventory will run out at some point.” The union is demanding a “special fund” of 50 billion euros for the construction of social housing. A further 22 billion euros would be required to create affordable housing for average earners, said Feiger.
The Bavarian Construction Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) said with a view to the construction ministers’ conference: “Our goal must be to prevent the total collapse of the construction and housing industry.”
Source: Stern
