The legal simplifications for housing construction in Hesse planned by the state government have met with approval from local authorities, but with considerable criticism from homeowners.

The state wants to use the new possibilities of the building land mobilization law in Hesse and is preparing corresponding ordinances.

For municipalities with a tight housing market, they include a special right of first refusal, options for exemption from the requirements of a development plan in favor of residential construction, a building ban and a new regulation prohibiting the conversion of rental apartments into owner-occupied apartments.

Rainer Schulze

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The planning department of the city of Frankfurt is pleased about the announced relief: "This is a step forward", says Beate Huf, office manager of the planning department Mike Josef (SPD).

She particularly hopes that the now possible extension of the conversion reservation to the entire city area will provide better protection for tenants.

Huf rates the possibility of exemption from building plans in favor of residential construction rather cautiously.

Compared to other municipalities, Frankfurt already exempts from development plans to a very large extent.

The new regulations will not change that much.

Forecast: rents will rise

The owner association Haus & Grund Hessen complains that the conversion into condominiums is made more difficult. “The goal of creating new living space is clearly missed. If the ordinance comes, it will rather cause rents to rise, ”says Younes Frank Ehrhardt, managing director of the association, which represents the interests of private owners. In future, owners must obtain approval for the conversion of more than six residential units if the houses are in areas with a tight housing market. Ehrhardt believes that the majority of renting private owners will be affected and expects a chain reaction: The regulation would bring fewer condominiums onto the market, which would drive up their prices. The buyers then have no choice but to demand a correspondingly higher rent.“The rents for new condominiums will rise,” he predicts.

Haus & Grund is also critical of the plans to expand the building offer.

"Above all, private owners who own a piece of land and currently do not have the necessary funds have the right not to build," says Ehrhardt.

First, the municipalities and the state should develop their own ready-to-build plots.