Anyone who asks Ralph Büchele, the managing director of the Bayernheim state housing association, about the work of his house is asked to look at a flipchart board. He energetically scribbles numbers, arrows and bars on paper in the Bavaria Towers in the east of Munich. In autumn 2021, Büchele – civil and industrial engineer, long-time management consultant – took over the management position at Bayernheim. The company that Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) founded in 2018 shortly after taking office. In the fight against the housing shortage, the “central social issue,” said Söder at the time, and with the goal of creating 10,000 new affordable housing units in the Free State by 2025. But for a long time Bayernheim’s balance sheet was: zero, not a single apartment built, only a few dozen bought. And the whole project had the reputation of being a non-starter.
Your ears really ring when Büchele talks about the Bayernheim as a “speed boat” that is rapidly on the market. About an “enabler”, an enabler who can implement things that others have difficulty with. From an actor who “goes to the fullest”. It’s really from there this Bayernheim the speech?
In fact, Bayernheim has developed some momentum; it is building, buying, getting involved in projects and networking with project partners. As of mid-2023, the company only has 267 apartments in its portfolio, i.e. turnkey, and many have just been purchased. But 6,101 apartments have now been “launched,” as the Ministry of Construction announced upon request. Of these, 1,349 are currently under construction and a further 4,485 are in planning and development. Projects that have been completed, started or have been sealed by a notary can be found in large cities such as Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg or Regensburg. But also in Miesbach, Bayreuth and Dinkelsbühl. Or Straubing. Construction Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) was there on Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony for a property with 63 subsidized apartments for families, couples and singles.
Rather a small category, Bayernheim is usually interested in projects with a three-digit number of units. Last week, Bernreiter visited the construction site of a neighborhood in Ingolstadt, 433 apartments, infrastructure such as a daycare center on the site, expected to be completed at the end of 2025. “With this project, Bayernheim is making a significant contribution to more and permanently affordable housing in Ingolstadt,” said the Minister. “Around 1,300 people will find a home in the eleven houses.” Something has started to move. The decision to have Bayernheim take over the renovation of two dilapidated buildings with a good 1,000 apartments in the Munich student city also spiced up the balance sheet. They are included in the 6,101 units launched. “While the private construction industry is canceling projects and slowing them down massively, the state-owned Bayernheim is continuing to plan and build reliably and is even increasing the pace,” reports the ministry. Especially in the current housing construction crisis, society is proving to be “a stable anchor”. One advantage is that the private sector aims for high profit margins, which is difficult given the rising construction costs – the state actor does not have this pressure.
At the beginning of the year, political Munich was still expecting Bayernheim to be a major issue in the election campaign. “Debacle”, “bankruptcy” or “real satire” were the terms used by the Greens, SPD, FDP and AfD about a construction company that builds nothing. An empty promise from the Prime Minister is a real invitation to the opposition. In addition, Söder, as the top housing builder, has historically had an image problem. Under his aegis as finance minister, the Landesbank once sold 33,000 apartments belonging to the non-profit GBW to investors, and as a result, many residents complained about drastic rent increases. But now in the election campaign, in its heated final phase? Bayernheim has become more of a side note. Not a campaign hit.
The most important problems in the country? Housing only comes in seventh place
There are probably a number of reasons for this. Of course, there is a massive lack of affordable housing in many places in Bavaria, and rent levels are rising in cities, metropolitan areas and also in rural regions. Nevertheless, a majority of people in Bavaria apparently do not find this extremely urgent. In the latest BR-Bayerntrend, the representative survey, housing only came in seventh place among the most important problems, far behind migration and energy, and also behind schools and traffic. And this election campaign is not characterized by factual debates about state issues anyway; rather, it depends on federal politics and moods. In addition, the federal government hardly has any solutions for the Germany-wide housing shortage.
But perhaps the fact that Bayernheim is getting going after all also plays a role. Even Söder’s 10,000 mark is now being discussed again. Not with rented apartments, that would be utopian. But at least as a tangible number. Bayernheim managing director Büchele says: “If the momentum continues – and there is currently nothing to say against it – we will expand our portfolio consisting of projects in planning, construction and existing properties to over 10,000 residential units by the end of 2025.” The Ministry of Construction is also “optimistic” about this.
You don’t want to leave everything like that in the opposition. SPD leading candidate Florian von Brunn has made “an affordable Bavaria” – housing, energy, education, care – the core of his campaign. There is a lack of 200,000 apartments in the Free State, and the state government is “leaning on its feet,” he believes, including other measures in Bernreiter’s department: too little money, too few concepts. This would be opposed by SPD ideas such as a building land tax against speculation with land or a purification of the Bavarian building regulations. Specifically at Bayernheim, which is “known for its inefficiency”, he only believes in successes in housing construction “when they are not just on paper, but when people live in them. Before that, I can’t take it seriously.” In addition, in Brunn’s eyes, it is a “label fraud” when ownership is often only taken over for apartments that were already under construction.
Unlike the FDP, Brunn wants to preserve Bayernheim. The Liberals are calling for liquidation in a ten-point plan, and the funds released should be available to municipal, private and cooperative construction companies: “The state should be a service provider instead of, as is currently the case, poorer entrepreneurs.” Brunn, however, sees a need for a state actor to stabilize the industry, but he needs to be “more powerful” and devote much more attention to young and student housing. He sticks to his demand that an external commission should take a close look at Söder’s Bayernheim: “It’s unbelievable that years were wasted here before they even start planning.”