Tax advantages in exchange for cheap rents: With the so-called non-profit housing, affordable housing should be created. But the Ver.di and IG Bau unions are not moving quickly enough.
Those who provide permanently affordable housing should be given tax breaks and subsidies – several trade unions and works councils have urged the federal government to speed up this plan. “Your government has a historic opportunity to fundamentally and sustainably improve the orientation of the rental housing markets in Germany,” says an open letter from Ver.di and IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) to Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD). and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).
“The important project of a new non-profit housing organization must not fail because of unfounded reservations by some industry players or due to insufficient financial resources for the new non-profit housing organization,” the unions write in it. The letter is available from the German Press Agency.
Cheap rents against tax breaks and subsidies
In its 2021 coalition agreement, the federal government had announced the reintroduction of non-profit housing. With “tax incentives and investment subsidies” she wants to “create a new dynamic in the construction and permanent social commitment of affordable housing”, the traffic light described her project. That means: If housing companies commit to cheap rents and give up returns, they get tax breaks and subsidies.
Such rules had already been used in the past to promote providers who kept their apartments cheap over the long term. However, the government has not got very far with the implementation. Construction Minister Geywitz emphasized at the end of 2022 that new rules should come this year. But little has happened so far.
No funding program yet
On the contrary: According to the “Handelsblatt”, key points and a support program were originally supposed to be drawn up by the end of March, but this deadline has expired. According to this, the templates should not come until mid-June due to complex and time-consuming coordination.
The trade unions are calling for a model that is as concrete as possible. “The commitment to non-profit criteria must be permanent,” they write in the letter to the government. “In return, the non-profit housing companies receive permanent tax breaks.” Since these alone are not enough, grants are also needed, for example for the construction of new non-profit housing “or for the contribution of housing stocks to non-profit organizations”.