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New building in the Berlin district of Wedding

Photo: Müller-Stauffenberg / IMAGO

The federal government is planning to build thousands of new apartments, but implementation is stalling.

Last year, the responsible Federal Agency for Real Estate (Bima) only completed 68 new buildings.

This emerges from the Finance Ministry's response to a request from the left-wing Bundestag member Caren Lay, which was submitted to the German Press Agency.

Since 2020, Bima has started building 2,753 apartments as part of its new construction program.

But only 200 were completed.

This involves housing for federal employees, for example federal police officers.

These apartments should also ensure that the general housing market is relieved.

In 2018, the then federal government announced a housing construction offensive and announced the construction of 6,000 to 8,000 new apartments.

Bima belongs to the federal government and is one of the largest property owners in Germany.

Lay criticizes that the number of new buildings is ridiculously low in view of the worsening construction and housing crisis: "In view of the rapidly increasing rents, the extreme housing shortage in many large cities and the exploding construction costs, a significantly stronger commitment from the federal government can be expected." In addition, Bima apartments will continue to be provided sold to private investors.

“The sell-off must end once and for all,” demands Lay.

The traffic light government is also apparently slow to implement the promised “construction turbo”.

This is proven by answers to a request from the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, which the “Handelsblatt” reported on.

The “construction turbo” is intended to be a temporary special regulation in the building code, including the waiver of a development plan.

The regulation was originally supposed to be presented in 2023, but is still being voted on by the government factions.

Criticism from the left and from the Union

In addition, the construction and housing industry is still waiting for the promised easier depreciation conditions and the announced major amendment to the building code, the report says.

There are also delays in new funding programs.

The concept of the announced “Young Buys Old” program is currently being coordinated by departments, and the “Commercial to Residential” funding program for the conversion of empty offices and shops into new apartments has not yet progressed beyond the concept phase.

Jan-Marco Luczak (CDU), construction policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, accuses Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (both SPD) of having “failed tremendously”.

Scholz presented himself as chancellor for affordable housing in the federal election campaign and made construction a top priority with the construction summit, Luczak told the Handelsblatt.

But Germany is in the biggest housing crisis in decades.

According to the Council of Real Estate Experts, there is a shortage of 600,000 apartments in Germany this year.

The federal government's goal of building 400,000 apartments per year is becoming more distant: According to the Ifo Institute, the number of new apartments built annually could decline by 35 percent by 2026 compared to last year.

An important reason for the downturn in construction is the sharp increase in construction and financing costs.

mamk/dpa