Tens of thousands of homes are evicted every year. Overall, the numbers have recently fallen slightly. But the trends are not the same in all federal states.
Last year, more than 29,000 apartments in Germany were evicted. This is the result of statistics published by the Ministry of Justice in response to a question from the left in the Bundestag and available to the German Press Agency.
The most evictions were in the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with 8,656, followed by Bavaria (3,432), Saxony (2,667), Lower Saxony (2,285), Hesse (1,915), Baden-Württemberg (1,751), Berlin (1,668) and Saxony- Anhalt (1173). Brandenburg (1104), Rhineland-Palatinate (960), Hamburg (921), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (873), Thuringia (855), Bremen (455) and Saarland (286) followed. No data were available from Schleswig-Holstein.
In the previous year there were slightly more forced evictions from apartments, namely 30,731. According to the information, a total of around 44,900 evictions from apartments and commercial premises were ordered in 2021, more than 51,000 the year before.
The Left Party’s housing policy expert, Caren Lay, pointed out that contrary to the slightly declining overall trend, the number of forced evictions in Bavaria had risen significantly from the previous 2,867. Measured by the number of inhabitants, the following also applies: “Saxony is the master of clearance in East Germany.” Being evicted from an apartment often means homelessness in the currently tight housing markets.
“One eviction is one too many,” Lay said. “If the federal government does not act, more people will lose their apartments and homes.” Anyone who has just survived the corona pandemic financially should not be thrown out during the energy crisis. The politician called for a “winter package for warm and safe living”. Terminations due to payment difficulties must be excluded and evictions into homelessness prohibited.
(This article was first published on Sunday, December 04, 2022.)
