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Berlin (dpa) - According to the tenants' association, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an affordable apartment in German cities.
"An increasing number of tenants can only pay the rent with difficulty or not at all," said association president Lukas Siebenkotten on Thursday, the housing crisis is coming to a head.
The construction of at least 80,000 social housing units per year is necessary, explained the tenants' association together with associations from the construction and housing industry and IG BAU.
Calculations for the alliance showed that a total of around 630,000 apartments are missing nationwide.
"The investment conditions for affordable housing are still bad," criticized the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies at the so-called Housing Construction Day.
Higher land prices, higher editions and construction prices would have driven up the costs for new apartments.
If the climate targets were to be tightened, there had to be a legal right to funding.
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From the perspective of the alliance, the future federal government must above all promote the construction of affordable housing - among other things with discounted building land, tax breaks, promotion of energy-saving measures, more staff in building authorities and opportunities for taller and denser construction.
Industry analyzes show that rents and purchase prices for apartments continue to rise even during the Corona crisis. According to data from the Immobilienscout24 portal, landlords demanded 7.18 euros per square meter when re-letting an existing apartment in March, three percent more than a year earlier. For new apartments it was 9.58 euros, an increase of a good five percent, as the company announced on Thursday. According to the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks, prices for apartments and houses rose by an average of 7.5 percent in 2020.
The German Institute for Urban Studies considers it possible that changed needs as a result of the Corona crisis will make living even more expensive.
"After Corona, the apartment will be more important as a living space," said Institute Director Carsten Kühl.
Larger apartments with retreat options and less open floor plans as well as higher technical equipment could be more desirable in the future.
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The left chairman Janine Wissler reaffirmed her party's call for a nationwide "rent cap" to stop the rise in housing costs at the Housing Day. “We also need new construction,” she added. FDP leader Christian Lindner and CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak rejected a “rent cap”. Lindner spoke out in favor of tax breaks, a vacant lot cadastre and an independent building ministry. Green co-boss Robert Habeck supported the demand for higher buildings and more social housing.
The Central Association of the German Construction Industry drew a positive balance of the years under the government coalition of the Union and the SPD.
She did not achieve the goal of 1.5 million new apartments, among other things because of the long government formation and the pandemic, said chief executive Felix Pakleppa.
"1.2 million is a very respectable result."
State Secretary Volkmar Vogel said another 300,000 apartments had been approved and would be ready by the end of the year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210506-99-494098 / 2
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Housing construction day
Associations position paper
Press release tenants' association
Press release GdW