Lowest level since 2018
Federal government clearly misses its housing target
03/10/2023 10:26 am
In the medium term, the federal government wants to create 400,000 new apartments per year. An evaluation shows that this did not work in 2022. Instead, it is at the level of 2018. The reason for this is not only the lack of skilled workers.
In 2022, the construction of 354,400 apartments was approved in Germany. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), that was 6.9 percent or 26,300 fewer apartments than in 2021. The number of building permits was last lower than in 2022 in 2018 with 346,800 apartments. The figures include both building permits for dwellings in new buildings and new dwellings in existing buildings.
The federal government is pursuing the goal of creating 400,000 new apartments per year in Germany in the medium term. “A lack of materials and high costs for building materials, a shortage of skilled workers in construction and increasingly poor financing conditions are likely to have contributed to the decline in construction projects in 2022,” explained Destatis.
The negative development intensified over the course of 2022. Since May, consistently fewer applications for apartments to be built have been approved than in the same month of the previous year. While 9.4 percent more apartments were approved in January than in the same month last year, in August there were already 10.5 percent fewer apartments than a year earlier.
Housing shortage greater than it has been for 30 years
Around 63 percent of new apartments in Germany are in apartment buildings. In December, only 19,200 apartments were approved for newly built apartment buildings, which was 19.3 percent or 4,600 apartments fewer than in the same month last year. “Usually, a particularly large number of apartment buildings are approved in December,” explained Destatis.
It is still unclear whether the situation will calm down. In an interview with web.de, Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz already emphasized last January that the declared new construction target of 400,000 apartments will probably not be achievable until 2024. She cited rising interest rates and delivery bottlenecks as reasons for not meeting the targets.
In Germany, the housing shortage is greater than it has been for 30 years. Across Germany, “700,000 apartments are missing,” said Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the German Tenants’ Association, in an interview with the Tagesspiegel. More than one in ten people lives in overcrowded housing, reported the Federal Statistical Office last year. Children are particularly affected.