The number of building permits for apartments in Germany fell by around a quarter in the first half of the year. From January to June, the construction of 135,200 apartments was approved, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday. That was 27.2 percent or 50,600 fewer apartments than in the same period last year. In June, the number of approved apartments was 21,800, a decrease of more than a quarter (28.5 percent) compared to the same month last year.
“Increasing construction costs and increasingly poor financing conditions are likely to have contributed to the decline in construction projects,” explained the statisticians in Wiesbaden. Building permits are an important indicator of the housing shortage in cities. The figures include both building permits for apartments in new buildings and conversions.
There are declines in building permits for all types of buildings, the statisticians continue. From January to June, 111,500 apartments were approved for new residential buildings to be constructed – almost 31 percent less than in the same period last year. The number of building permits for single-family homes fell by a good third (35.4 percent). In the case of two-family houses, the number of approved apartments has even fallen by more than half (53.4 percent). In the type of building with the most apartments, multi-family houses, the number of approved apartments shrank by a good quarter.
Despite the high demand for living space, the number of building permits has been falling for months. Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) has admitted that the traffic light coalition will miss its target of 400,000 new apartments per year.