Decline in permits
German new housing construction is collapsing
November 17, 2023, 10:20 a.m
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When taking office, the traffic light set itself a bold goal: 400,000 new apartments should be built in Germany every year. Associations and experts were skeptical from the start. High construction costs are putting an end to the plans. The number of building permits is on the decline.
The number of building permits for apartments in Germany continued to trend downwards in September. As the Federal Statistical Office reports, the construction of 19,300 apartments was approved. That was 29.7 percent less than in the same month last year. From January to September, the number of building permits for apartments fell by 28.3 percent compared to the same period last year. This corresponds to a decrease of 76,900 to 195,100 apartments.
“High construction costs and poor financing conditions are likely to continue to contribute to the decline in construction projects,” explains the statistics office. The results include both building permits for apartments in new buildings and for new apartments in existing buildings.
From January to September, a total of 160,400 apartments were approved in newly built residential buildings. That was 31.7 percent or 74,500 apartments fewer than in the same period last year. The number of building permits for single-family homes fell by over a third (38.4 percent) to 37,900. In the case of two-family houses, the number of approved apartments has more than halved (51.9 percent to 11,100).
What remains of the traffic light plans?
The number of approved apartments also fell significantly in the type of building with the most apartments, apartment buildings, by more than a quarter (27.2 percent) to 105,200. Only the dormitories were able to record a positive result (8.4 percent) with an increase to 6,200 newly built apartments.
The traffic light coalition originally wanted to build 400,000 new apartments every year, 100,000 of which would be social housing. However, associations and experts see this goal as becoming increasingly distant.