The social settlement on Dorfstraße has been on the agenda since 2018, but the municipal council missed the opportunity to implement it. It will now be years before cheap apartments are built in Vaterstetten.
The rents in the large community are too expensive – there has been a general consensus on this for years. In the past, however, there was not quite so much unanimity as to how this problem could be tackled. For many years, the majority of the municipal council here relied on the forces of the free market, so around the beginning of the current millennium, Vaterstetten withdrew completely from social housing construction – making up for the resulting lack of cheap apartments will not be easy.
The consequences of the withdrawal of the public sector from the housing market are particularly evident in high-price regions such as the community of Vaterstetten. In conjunction with a general shortage of skilled workers and a never-ending influx of people, the high rents are becoming a problem for the functioning of the social infrastructure. In the Vaterstetten kindergartens and crèches, for example, there have been difficulties finding enough staff for years, and old people’s and care facilities are having a similarly difficult time. It would help – and this has also been known for years – if potential employees could be offered a company apartment, or at least a place to stay close to the workplace and at affordable prices. This should have been implemented in the planned settlement on Dorfstrasse, according to the current status, around 150 affordable apartments could be built there – if they are built.
Because the decision of the local council to put the project on the waiting list means that the apartments will not be built in the foreseeable future. Because that’s what a waiting list is all about: projects that a majority sees as sensible but also too expensive not to be completely canceled in the hope of being able to implement them one day. The fact that the community of Vaterstetten, in the current situation with rising prices, delivery problems and unclear income development, is not even lifting a 20 million project in addition to all other tasks, such as school and road renovations or geothermal energy, is of course only reasonable and not to be criticized.
However, those responsible have to put up with criticism for the fact that there is not a community settlement on Dorfstraße for a long time. Because there would have been enough time to implement the project, after all it has been on the agenda since 2018, and the concrete plans were presented a good three years ago. But instead of going straight into implementation, the municipal council decided – because this was done in a non-public session – for reasons that are still unknown to this day for a change of architect and a complete replanning. This was later put on hold by a majority of the committee because they would have preferred to have implemented it with a cooperative or the Ebersberg housing association.
And when all the ambiguities were cleared up, there was no more money for a project that everyone considers so important – at least as long as it doesn’t have to be implemented in concrete terms.