What is not often available is correspondingly expensive – anyone who ever inquires about a property in the Munich area can tell a sorrowful song about it. In the community of Zorneding, too, the prices for houses and apartments have risen sharply in recent years. What is a nuisance to many people becomes a problem that threatens their very existence for less wealthy citizens. In order to give everyone the chance to find a place to stay in the community, Zorneding has now decided to take a drastic step: If you want to designate new building land or commercial space on site, you must give the community the opportunity to use half of the plot area of the planned area to acquire.
The members of the municipal council agreed on this in a closed meeting and a majority passed the resolution in the most recent meeting of the committee. So-called socially just land use, or SoBon for short, is not new in the community. There are also similar models in Grafing or in the city of Munich. SoBon has been in use in Zorneding since the end of 2017, for example in the “Wimmerwiese” development area, where the municipality had the right to buy 50 of the total of around 200 apartments themselves and rent them to needy citizens at a discount. The decision of principle, which has now been improved, is, however, much more far-reaching.
Zorneding is one of the most attractive regions in Bavaria
Now the municipality is given 50 percent of the area as access right. Due to its location, its transport links and its proximity to the state capital Munich, Zorneding is “one of the attractive regions of Bavaria in which property prices have been rising for years,” the decision states. It is no longer possible to acquire suitable land for the community needs and to cover the housing needs of low-income people and thus to guarantee a socially just use of land that serves the common good. “It is the task of the land-use planning to intervene in a controlling manner by means of a building land development model”, so the wording in the new policy paper.
This provides for the 50 percent that should go to the municipality when new building land is designated. The municipality either buys the land itself or the corresponding co-ownership shares “at the market value at the time of acquisition,” as it is called. How high this value is should be clarified by an expert on a case-by-case basis. It is already clear, however, that the property owner must not simply leave the areas intended for construction empty. These must be developed within a period of five years from the announcement of the development plan or from the completion of the development. With this, the municipality wants to ensure that living space is actually created quickly.
The municipal council decides what happens to the area
The municipal council should decide how the land acquired by the municipality will ultimately be used. In addition to the construction of apartments, the construction of infrastructure facilities such as day-care centers or sports and leisure facilities is also conceivable.
Many local councils spoke out clearly in favor of the new principle decision in the most recent meeting. “We have been struggling for years to find land and are now required to take action,” said Wilhelm Ficker (Free Voters). Bianka Poschenrieder (SPD), like Helmut Obermaier (Greens), reminded that a municipality is obliged by the constitution to create affordable housing. “Building, building, building is not enough. The communities must also support,” said Obermaier.
Only in parts of the CSU parliamentary group did they not really warm to the idea that building owners should in future cede half of their area to the community. “We’ll destroy our interest in the property,” said Jutta Sirotek. Ultimately, however, the majority of the committee voted in favor of the decision, which will take effect immediately and should alleviate the housing shortage in the community as quickly as possible.