Cheap credit instead of equity: Geywitz wants to help families to own their own home

The dream of owning a home should come true for more families with low and middle incomes. Federal Building Minister Geywitz wants to achieve this with low-interest loans amounting to 350 million euros a year. Companies and municipalities should also benefit. But there are clear guidelines.

According to a report, Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz wants to give families with low and medium incomes more support in buying their own home. As the newspapers of the Funke media group reported, citing a report by the Federal Ministry of Building, a new subsidy pot is to be aimed at families with at least one underage child and a maximum taxable annual income of 60,000 euros. For each additional child, 10,000 euros are deducted from the annual income.

According to the report, these families are to receive a low-interest loan from the state development bank KfW, which is intended to replace the use of equity. A total of 350 million euros should therefore be available annually for the families.

According to the Funke newspapers, a further 650 million euros are intended for all other applicants. In addition to housing groups or cooperatives, for example, who can access the money for multi-storey construction, this pot should also be available to self-users, for example families with an income of more than 60,000 euros or individuals. In addition, municipalities or companies should also be able to access money when it comes to building daycare centers, schools, sports halls or office buildings, for example.

According to the report, the total funding adds up to one billion euros a year. The money should therefore be made available from the climate and transformation fund. The funding is to begin in April 2023. Only new buildings that exceed the energy efficiency house standard 55 should be funded.

“In view of the tight housing market and the price increases for building materials, families with low and middle incomes find it particularly difficult to create affordable living space for themselves. That’s why we deliberately focused on them with our new funding,” Geywitz told the Funke newspapers Inquiry.

In this way, parents could ensure that their children grow up in their own property. At the same time, the funding is better than the Baukindergeld, said Geywitz. The funding period for the child benefit, which the Union and SPD government introduced in 2018, expired in 2021.