Minister Hendricks introduces housing construction campaign

Federal Building Minister Barbara Hendricks wants to provide effective relief for housing markets with a housing construction campaign. As she introduced the recommendations of the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Building, Hendricks remarked: "The current situation demands prompt action on the part of all stakeholders in order to stimulate housing development." According to a current projection, in the next few years at least 350,000 new housing units will be needed in order to appropriately house families, single parent families, students and the rising number of refugees.

Minister Hendricks commented: "The German government is launching a comprehensive package of measures including the discounted sale of properties, development incentives, streamlining of building planning law and support for housing that is inexpensive and can be easily modified for different uses. Together with our partners in the alliance, we will create more affordable housing where it is most urgently needed: in large cities, university towns and in rural districts on city outskirts."

Based on the comprehensive recommendations of the alliance, Hendricks has developed a ten point programme that will provide incentives for the development of additional affordable housing. These necessary measures must be implemented quickly. The housing construction campaign in key points:

1. Building land will be made available. Plots belonging to public authorities will be made available at a discount and allocated based on the merits of the planning.
2. Infill development including gap-stopping and development of unused sites will be prioritised.
3. The development of social housing and cooperative housing will be strengthened.
4. Targeted tax incentives for the construction of additional affordable housing will be created.
5. Efforts will be made to achieve the adoption of a unified Model Building Code for the Länder.
6. Standardisation procedures will be scrutinised.
7. Modular building methods will be advocated for the construction of attractive and inexpensive housing.
8. Parking space regulations will be made more flexible.
9. The Energy Saving Ordinance (Energie-Einsparverordnung) and the Renewable Energies Heat Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Wärmegesetz) require a new structural concept.
10. A campaign for greater public acceptance of new construction must be initiated.

On this point, the minister noted: "We need to foster greater awareness of the necessity of new construction. People need to recognise inner urban construction and infill development as positive things."

At the conclusion of the Alliance for Affordable Housing and Building, which was initiated by Minister Hendricks in July 2014, the minister thanked all of the alliance partners for their intensive work and cooperation. Despite very different views on many issues, the alliance partners were able to agree on concrete measures for the creation of additional affordable housing in a productive and positive working atmosphere.

The minister expressed certainty that the alliance partners will continue to work constructively together in the future to find solutions for the still considerable challenges that lie ahead in the creation of additional affordable housing.