On the initiative of Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD), the “Alliance for Affordable Housing” made up of around 50 representatives from the federal, state, local authorities and associations will meet for the first time this Wednesday in Berlin. The aim is to build around 400,000 additional apartments in Germany, in order to do something about the housing shortage, high rents and high real estate prices, especially in metropolitan areas. The President of the German Association of Cities and Mayor of Münster, Markus Lewe, explains why the municipalities need more room for manoeuvre.
SZ: Mr. Lewe, what can a city do if there is a suitable vacant lot or even an area in the municipality, but the owner does not want to build on it?
Markus Lewe: As cities, we have many instruments to take action. However, it has been shown that the possibilities that the cities have in land policy are not sufficient. A balance must be restored between using land for the common good and using it on the market. The tasks of housing for the cities have increased significantly. Dignified and affordable housing is not only a very valuable asset for individuals, but also for social cohesion in society. More immigrants are coming, as we are now finding out again in the course of the Ukraine war, and it will stay that way. In addition, the municipalities have to adapt to climate change and its consequences such as heavy rain. This also has an impact on building and living.
The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development recently presented a study: it says there are plenty of suitable plots of land, including in the cities. What are the obstacles?
There are enough suitable plots of land. But we also need owners who are building there or are willing to sell the land. With the current housing shortage, one cannot be responsible for the fact that plots of land simply remain unused, that we have junk properties that stand empty, that plots of land are only used for short-term living. Land must not degenerate into objects of speculation. But we see all this too often. Everyone has to play now. Cities work with incentives and buy land, but that alone is not enough.
Markus Lewe has been Mayor of Münster for almost 13 years. In November 2021, the Christian Democrat became President of the German Association of Cities.
(Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa)
What would help the cities?
We need first refusal rights for properties throughout the city. The federal and state governments should set up land funds so that the cities can appear on the market themselves and acquire land with foresight. This is particularly important for cash-strapped municipalities. In this way, the concepts for diversity and social infrastructure can be implemented well, so that neighborhoods are not created for the rich and for the poor, where the social challenges are concentrated. In many areas our hands are tied.
How exactly would that work?
It is already possible today – albeit with great effort – to designate an urban development area, for example. The municipality thus acquires the right to purchase and can determine what happens on the site. In addition, however, there must be more rights to be able to acquire land more easily. And a building obligation on the part of the owners, so that undeveloped plots of land can be used promptly. Cities need to be able to set such building bids for apartments more easily, even in areas where commercial development is permitted. Several federal states are lagging behind and have not yet fully implemented the Federal Building Land Mobilization Act in this regard.
Do you have to be able to expropriate individual owners?
The building code has long allowed this as a last resort, but it is very rare. The trick is to develop the area together with the investors, which in my experience in Münster often works very well. But it’s also good if the cities still have a few precautionary measures up their sleeves.
The cities cannot act alone, building minister Klara Geywitz is now trying with several billions in funding. Isn’t the role of the federal states completely underexposed? They are actually responsible for the construction of social housing.
We always had that in mind, our demands are directed at the federal and state governments. The states play an important role here, I would like to give them an example from my state, North Rhine-Westphalia. Many cheap apartments are no longer subject to rent control, around 60,000 nationwide every year. However, one should not only replace these with new buildings, but also extend the rent commitment as often as possible. North Rhine-Westphalia has successfully developed a concept of how to achieve this through attractive offers to the owners.
Were there also omissions of the cities? Not everyone took care of areas for residential areas in time.
Of course there are also omissions. That depends on what forecasts were made 10 to 20 years ago. The urbanization that we are experiencing now was not foreseeable at the time. At the beginning of the 2000s, many cities shrank or stagnated.
But some cities then simply rehabilitated their budgets by selling apartments and land.
That’s part of the story, you had to generate revenue. At that time, some plots of land were sold for an apple and an egg, and today some of them have to be bought again for considerably higher amounts. You have to think very carefully about commercializing infrastructure – and that includes land. It has been shown that this is not sustainable. Municipalities have learned from that. The federal and state governments, however, much later.