interview
The traffic light coalition has not yet achieved its goal of 400,000 new apartments per year in any year. There is also a lack of social housing. Nevertheless, Federal Construction Minister Geywitz appears in the conversation tagesschau24 optimistic for this year.
tagesschau24: How satisfied are you with your work so far as Federal Construction Minister?
Klara Geywitz: One thing is very clear: the construction industry is currently in a very difficult situation caused by the jump in interest rates. This has made a lot of construction financing more difficult. And we have a lot of homework to do when it comes to modernizing the heating system. This was discussed intensively, but also with regard to digitalization and the standardization of construction standards. And we are in the middle of this process.
“Far too little money invested”
tagesschau24: Of course, this homework also applies to social housing. 910,000 apartments, i.e. almost a million social housing units, are missing. Where does it come from?
Geywitz: There is even a lack of social housing. There were times in the Federal Republic of Germany with three million social housing units. We’ve now reached a million because social housing is usually only available for 20 or 25 years and then becomes completely normal housing.
We have simply invested far too little money in social housing over the last two decades. This is now taking its toll. Since 2021 we have flipped the switch. But of course it also takes a certain amount of time until this funding actually reaches the construction site and ends in a finished apartment.
tagesschau24: That means 910,000 apartments are missing – is that actually a realistic number?
Geywitz: Personally, I think the Pestel study you are referring to is highly dubious. These are numbers that our colleagues came up with. This then leads to relatively absurd results. For example, the shortage of social housing in North Rhine-Westphalia is significantly smaller than in Saxony, where there is supposedly a lack of ten times as many social housing. That’s not serious.
“We finally need them Tenancy law reform”
tagesschau24: Nevertheless, people in the large metropolitan areas will now say: Yes, of course, we lack housing. Especially in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin, affordable apartments can hardly be found anymore, even for high earners. And they don’t get housing benefit. How can the state help?
Geywitz: Half of all countries have now managed to turn things around. This means that more social housing is being built there than is being released, especially in Hamburg.
The other thing is that, of course, we finally need the tenancy law reform that the coalition has planned. Marco Buschmann has already announced several times that he is working intensively on the agreements – extending the rent cap, lowering the cap limit. And that will also help tenants who live in privately financed housing.
“Growth is limited in a crisis”
tagesschau24: Almost a year ago you said: For 2022 and also for 2023 we have not managed to achieve the goal of 400,000 apartments per year. But that could definitely be something for 2024. Do you still believe that today?
Geywitz: I said I have a more positive forecast for 2024. We have gone through a crisis in the construction industry. My goal has always been for us to get through this crisis in a stable manner, without additional staff cuts on the construction sites. It is very important that we maintain capacity.
We have launched various support programs to get through this crisis in a stable manner: social housing, but of course also support for families who want to own their own home.
We are now launching two new programs, for example that you can convert commercial spaces into apartments. But as I said, growth is of course limited in the middle of a recession.
“What is the need?”
tagesschau24: That means we won’t reach 400,000 this year.
Geywitz: No, I think everyone assumes that overall. It is important that we do not have to reduce capacity for the time being and that we now get going again. We have taken different measures. It is also very important that we build more and faster through serial housing construction. And we have created great conditions for this to work.
“Put a lot of money into renovation”
tagesschau24: According to the ifo Institute, the business climate in the construction industry is worse than it has been since 1991. According to the industry, this is due, among other things, to the fact that it no longer has any planning security if, for example, important funding programs are canceled, such as the climate-friendly new building program.
Geywitz: The climate-friendly new building program has by no means been canceled. We started last year with a billion for this program. And because it went so extremely well, we even increased it – to two billion in the middle of the current year and then another 280 million on top of that in December after the budget freeze, when there was a big run on the program. And then just before Christmas the money was all gone. But the program is starting again this year.
tagesschau24: Where does it come from that the industry criticizes that there is no planning security?
Geywitz: Well, on the one hand, we have changed the funding. The previous government did not invest in social housing, but also subsidized apartments that had extremely expensive rents.
We didn’t think that made sense. This also had extreme deadweight effects and made building even more expensive. That’s why this change happened. Of course, this is difficult during the transition phase. But the market has oriented itself towards the construction of new social housing, so I assume that the stock of social housing, which is so urgently needed, will also be rebuilt.
The other thing is that we have now started new programs, for example, in order to make better use of the existing stock. That means putting a lot of money into renovation, but also a lot of money into converting offices that are no longer needed.
“The question of energy prices is also very important.”
tagesschau24: The construction costs are currently a quarter higher than in 2020. Where do you think we’re headed this year?
Geywitz: On the one hand, you can see a relaxation in individual building materials. We also had delivery bottlenecks due to Corona. We are also seeing some relaxation there.
The question of energy prices is always very important. This federal government has invested many billions to ensure that electricity and gas prices are down for all of us, but also for industry.
But the question of equipment is always a point. That’s why we want to introduce a new building type, building type E, where you can limit yourself to simple buildings, equipment and some of the additional luxury that doesn’t necessarily have to be built.
tagesschau24: What is your feeling for 2024: Will the construction sector recover a bit?
Geywitz: One of the most important factors influencing the question of how much will be built is interest rate developments. And that makes me quite positive.
Romy Hiller conducted the interview for tagesschau24. It was shortened and edited for the written version.