After the abrupt stop of funding for climate-friendly construction projects, the construction ministers of several countries are calling for a crisis meeting. In a joint letter, the building ministers of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg complain that the federal government’s decision torpedoes the goal of creating affordable housing. “Important new construction projects across the country are on the brink.” The building ministers’ conference of the federal states must discuss this at a special meeting with the federal government, they demand in the letter to the chair of the conference, Baden-Württemberg’s building minister Nicole Razavi (CDU).
Last Monday, the Federal Ministry of Economics surprisingly frozen the previous funding. Applications for funding for renovation projects or the construction of particularly energy-efficient houses have not been accepted since then, and applications that have been received but not yet approved are not processed further for the time being. The ministry justified the step with an enormous rush for funding: applications for 20 billion euros were received between the beginning of November and mid-January. That exceeds the possibilities of the federal government, which handles the funding through the state-owned KfW bank. Builders alone had applied for 14 billion euros for “Efficiency Houses 55” – the funding for which was originally supposed to end on January 31st. A total of 24,000 applications are affected.
Resistance comes mainly from the Union. Bavaria’s Construction Minister Kerstin Schreyer (CSU) spoke of a “disaster for climate protection and builders”. The Union faction in the Bundestag tabled a motion for a resolution on Thursday: the government should withdraw the funding freeze. This is “a slap in the face to our home builders who have relied on the funding,” said parliamentary group leader Ulrich Lange.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had repeatedly expressed his regret at the surprising stop; the strong demand left the ministry with no other choice. They are now working on a quick solution, it says. This included new funding conditions, and applications received should still be approved, primarily for renovation projects.
The SPD sees the mistake in the former CDU Minister of Economics
The funding freeze has also caused upset in the traffic light alliance. Verena Hubertz, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, told the SZ: “We feel the uncertainty and also the frustration about the abrupt end of funding for many construction projects.” The SPD construction politician Bernhard Daldrup spoke of an “absolutely understandable anger”. The fault lies with Habeck’s predecessor Peter Altmaier (CDU), who triggered the run with the deadline of January 31. “But this must not be carried out on the backs of the applicants,” he said.
Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) is also to be invited to the crisis meeting. In her house, the question arises as to whether the coalition’s goal of building 400,000 additional apartments a year, of which 100,000 are social housing, is endangered by the funding freeze. Above all, the conference of construction ministers had to talk about the latter, it said.