Friday January 14, 2022
Minister of Construction in “early start”
Geywitz wants to convert office space into apartments
The goal is ambitious: the new federal government wants to build 400,000 new apartments a year. In order to achieve this, Minister Geywitz is also relying on a conversion of existing areas and serial construction. This is neither “ugly” nor “monotonous,” emphasizes the SPD politician.
Apartments in Germany are becoming scarce and expensive in many places. For this reason, building minister Klara Geywitz sees the construction of new apartments as a priority for the new federal government. “We urgently need to build more, and that’s my job,” said the SPD politician on “ntv Frühstart”. A mammoth order for the minister – because according to the federal government, 400,000 apartments are to be built every year. When building these apartments, the building minister doesn’t just want to focus on new residential properties: “There won’t be one solution, but in addition to building, you also have to convert and look at the existing building.”
Geywitz was referring to densification: “It’s important to me that we build some of these 400,000 apartments in the areas that are already in use. That doesn’t just mean using the green area.” The minister emphasized that the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in home office solutions, which has resulted in a completely new way of working.
It is therefore assumed that office space of the previous size will no longer be needed. “You can use the existing stock to rebuild something. Or you can add another floor.” When asked where and for whom the apartments should be built, Geywitz emphasized that there is a tight housing market, especially in the big cities. But she added: “Even in the countryside we have a great need for barrier-free living.”
In order to be able to implement the announced apartments quickly, the construction minister wants to resort to serial construction: “Serial construction and serial renovation is one way of expanding the construction volume.” In addition, it would be a way to build cheaper and faster, and it could also reduce construction noise in inner cities. “If it’s prefabricated, the construction site time is also reduced,” says Geywitz. “Serial building is also very nice. I take away the fear of anyone who thinks something very ugly and monotonous is about to happen. Our architects create exciting solutions for that.”