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The phrase “We stay at home” became a catchphrase and hashtag in the corona pandemic.
Suddenly, young people were tied to where they lived, where they lived, and where they lived.
The idea of the mobile person, who is at home everywhere, who has several homes and to whom the world is open, was threatened when states closed their borders and travelers were seen as carriers of viruses.
Quite a few had to choose a place to stay and mostly opted for their old home - where their parents live.
We began to define our home no longer only pragmatically, as the place where we want to live and work, but also emotionally, as the place that was home to us: our own home in a world that is increasingly perceived as unsafe.
In the late Middle Ages, an estimated one-third of Europe's population died from pandemics, and labor shortages led to rural exodus.
People were drawn to the big cities where there was work.
In the corona pandemic, the opposite trend is emerging: living outside the big cities.
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The seven largest cities in Germany are losing residents.
In Berlin, for example, the number of people who moved to the surrounding area of Brandenburg has tripled.
Young families and the 30 to 50-year-olds in particular are increasingly leaving the big cities.
The main reasons are rising real estate prices and the desire to own home.
The digitization of work processes and more home offices are reinforcing the trend.
The future lies in the country
Even young adults are no longer drawn to the big cities, is one of the central results of a study carried out by the Institute for Future Policy on behalf of the Association of Private Building Societies.
According to this, the clear majority of today's 14 to 19-year-olds at the future age of 30 want to live outside the large cities in a medium-sized city or in a suburb or peripheral area.
Only 21 percent of all respondents can imagine living in a big city in the future, whereas 24 percent will later move to a small village, a single farm (18 percent) or a house in the country (six percent).
Just under 38 percent of young people who live in a big city today will also want to live there in the future.
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The future belongs to the urban fringes, the small and medium-sized cities - and the village.
The new desire for the country is related to another finding of the study: the dream of home ownership is unbroken.
87 percent of young people want to live in their own house or apartment later, and just as many assume that they will be able to finance their dream of having their own four walls in the future.
Only four percent believe that they will not even be able to afford home ownership.
An amazing result.
Pay off 35 years - in the best case
Living in the country far away from the big cities is considerably cheaper.
The home ownership rate there is around 75 percent, whereas only 25 percent live to rent.
In the big cities it is the other way round: there, three out of four people pay rent.
And for some time now, people on average have only been able to afford home ownership outside the metropolises.
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This is also shown by a study by the Technical University of Munich on behalf of the Family Businesses Foundation: Measured against the cost of living, the more remote the place of residence, the higher the income.
In metropolitan areas, however, the average salary is worth up to 14 percent less.
In the past ten years, the purchase prices per square meter of living space in Germany's metropolises have more than doubled.
The national average was around 60 percent.
It is particularly noticeable that fewer and fewer young households (are able to) buy their own home.
While one in three made the jump between the ages of 30 and 39, it is now only one in four.
On the other hand, in many places you can still find properties that are cheaper to finance than renting.
There is definitely a chance here of repaying a loan within 35 years in order to then be able to live debt-free in old age.
An interesting secondary aspect: The young people know or suspect that living will be even more expensive - regardless of whether they are owned or rented.
In any case, the CO2 tax has a price-driving effect, which must be countered with energy-saving measures.
If more climate protection nevertheless leads to a further rise in housing costs, this will be met with great approval by the younger generation.
Almost two thirds of 14 to 19 year olds think it is right that tenants and homeowners make a contribution to climate protection through higher housing costs.
Build here, renature there
The Federal Constitutional Court recently made history by giving climate protection constitutional status.
The message from Karlsruhe: The current climate protection law violates the freedom of the young generation.
It postponed high reduction burdens to the time after 2030. Instead, politicians must distribute the reduction over time in a forward-looking manner.
The climate change in the building sector is now coming faster.
The results of the Munich study can also be interpreted as an indication that the young generation thinks little of simple formulas such as “Single-family house equals space consumption and waste of energy”.
And rightly so: Because of course you don't always have to build on the green field.
With programs such as “Young buy old” one could keep old town and village centers livable in many places.
But if it is necessary: What speaks against the designation of building land for what are now often highly energy-efficient buildings if areas are renatured elsewhere?
Increasing density in city centers - is that the solution?
Shouldn't we rather bring more green into the cities?
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The trend towards home offices in the Corona crisis will continue to shape living and working even after the pandemic.
Most of the young people (60 percent) want to work from home in their future job.
Only every third person cannot get anything out of it.
The advantages of more home office are enormous: less commuting time and more time for the family.
In the future, the 3 + 2 + 2 model should prevail in many cases: three office days, two days in the home office and two days at the weekend.
Before that happens, 52 percent of those surveyed would like to stay with their parents for a while.
If you only look at the 18 to 19 year olds, it is still 49 percent.
Young people have their own ideas and expectations of where and how they want to live, live and work tomorrow.
Politics and business should be more concerned with their housing needs and expectations than in the past.
The future belongs to urban areas, small towns and villages, writes real estate expert Bernd Hertweck
Source: Wüstenrot
Bernd Hertweck is Chairman of the Board of the Association of Private Building Societies e. V. and chairman of the board of Wüstenrot Bausparkasse. The representative survey cited by the Forsa Institute of 500 German citizens between the ages of 14 and 19 was commissioned by the Association of Private Building Societies.