Where can the city of Munich get as much new living space as quickly as possible? On the roofs of existing buildings, if the ideas of the CSU and Free Voters (FW) in the city council go. In a package of motions published by the largest opposition faction on Monday, they call for a “campaign to increase residential buildings”, combined with the slogan “Munich is going one better”. The initiator of the six applications is City Councilor Winfried Hard. “We have to break new ground in creating affordable housing,” he says.
With their initiative, the CSU/FW are building on the housing construction figures for 2022 recently published by the city. According to this, building permits for 8,098 apartments were issued that year, the lowest value since 2013 and far too little, as Winfried Hardly finds. The previous efforts of the green-red town hall coalition are not sufficient, the situation is alarming. “Green-Red clearly misses the target figures for housing construction. There is no improvement in sight.”
The CSU rejects the large new residential areas in the north and northeast with the help of the planning instrument of the urban development measure (SEM) and instead wants to build one or two floors higher in the existing building. In addition, the city should determine where otherwise building rights reserves are still slumbering in already built-up areas, i.e. building rights are available or easy to obtain, but which are not implemented.
In order to better publicize and promote the possibility of an increase, the city should set up a digital, public information exchange. In this way, interested parties should learn everything they need to know about implementation options, funding and legal requirements. According to the CSU, the initiative is intended to publicize “a professional advertising campaign”. The municipal housing associations Gewofag and GWG are also said to commission external experts with the question of how great the potential is for adding stories to their own buildings. The result should be available by April 30, 2024.
In order to get the urgently needed figures for housing construction faster, the CSU also wants to put a special focus on the wooden module construction method. This applies to both additions and new builds. The municipal companies should implement pilot projects with this specification. This not only makes building faster, but also quieter and more environmentally friendly. According to the CSU’s application, Gewofag and GWG should also examine whether they could also commission general contractors for construction projects in the future, in order to speed up the creation of living space.