There is a shortage of housing in large parts of Germany, but building permits are at a low point, even though interest rates and inflation have returned to normal levels. Where is the knot?
Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) and the construction industry agree that housing construction must become easier and cheaper. However, ideas differ about how to get there.
The CEO of the Vonovia housing group, Rolf Buch, said at the ExpoReal real estate fair in Munich: “We have walled ourselves in with rules and laws.” The federal, state and local governments would have to address this. The President of the Construction Industry Association, Peter Hübner, also criticized the “high standards and over-regulation” and called for a change in mentality: “Construction must be cheaper again.”
As examples, they cited requirements for playgrounds on buildings of a certain size, for sound insulation or for car parking spaces. Buch said his company had to build expensive underground car parks, some of which are now empty. In view of the CO2 balance, concrete will be replaced by other building materials in the future. But timber construction is slowed down by an “extreme set of rules,” said Buch. “We fail because of regulations.”
Geywitz said the industry needs to become more productive through industrial prefabrication of components. “I am a supporter of serial housing construction.” Investors and tenants could benefit from lower construction costs. She also expects relief from the new building type E, where commercial developers can deviate from today’s standards under contractual protection.
Construction industry president Hübner said a bathroom could be manufactured in a factory and then inserted on site. Series production can make good quality construction faster and cheaper. “But the fact that large units are built serially means we are a long way away from that.” Serial building “doesn’t play a big role.”
Geywitz pointed out that more social housing has recently been built again. However, the state cannot support everything; the industry is far too big for that. Vonovia boss Buch also said: “The housing problem will not be solved with subsidies.”
The Bundestag wants to discuss a reform of the building code soon. The development of gardens and backyards and the addition of houses should be simplified, development plans should be accelerated, and environmental reports should be shorter.
Source: Stern
