Residential construction in Germany has been a problem child for a long time. However, this hits people with low incomes particularly hard. Because of the slow pace of new construction, significantly more social housing falls out of price maintenance every year than new ones are added. And actually, eleven million people are eligible.
Every year, Germany loses twice as much social housing as it gains. This was confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Building at the request of t-online. In 2021, according to the ministry, 45,836 social housing fell out of price maintenance – at the same time, only 21,232 new building support measures were approved as part of the social housing promotion. In 2020, around 56,000 social housing units fell out of the bond, and only 23,076 were newly approved. Based on the past two years, almost 112,000 apartments were no longer available, compared to a good 44,000 new social housing units.
“The shortage is dramatic,” said Matthias Günther t-online. He is an economist and CEO of the Pestel Institute, which publishes a major study on social construction and housing in Germany every year. “We have 1.1 million social housing in Germany – but 11 million households that are entitled to social housing. Years of waiting for an apartment is not the exception, but the rule.”
The ministry has not yet received any figures for 2022. Günther, however, is certain that the ministry has by no means reached the mark of 100,000 new social housing units per year that it had set itself. “Little has changed in the figures for 2021,” says Matthias Günther. “We assume that only around 20,000 new social housing units will be created in 2022. The target of 100,000 was missed by far.”
The federal government wants to build 400,000 apartments in total per year. After this did not succeed in 2022, Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz has already collected the goal for 2023 and only gives hope for 2024. The high inflation as well as the still limited supply chains and lack of skilled workers in construction will make it more than difficult to achieve the goal in the coming years.
