Contents page 1 — a building permit, apartment, will not prevent page 2 — speculations with obligation to continue construction On a page
Whether in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg are In the German big cities, affordable housing, meanwhile, is a scarce commodity. The more tenants and potential tenants would have to look forward to at the end of the most recent Figures from the Federal Statistical office: according to the number of building permits issued for apartments has risen sharply. In January alone, in 2019, an increase of 9.1 percent compared to the same month last year. Of 27,100 building permits were approved in the first four weeks of the year. Most of the new apartments in multi-family houses.
However, no real success message is behind this number. Because the Trend goes in the other direction, as the Numbers for new housing (a part of the building permits also applies to existing properties, where no new homes are being built): approved 2016 of 323,000 new dwellings, 2017 305,000 and in the past year 308.000. In order to meet the objectives of the coalition agreement, should it be a year of 375,000. Union and the SPD wanted to create by the year 2021 at least 1.5 million new homes.
to be Added: The approval makes long time no finished apartment. Instead, a large gap between the number of building permit granted and the number of dwellings completed. In 2017, the last year for the data evaluated are available at the Federal Statistical office, more than 50,000 less finished than actually approved, shows the comparison of the Figures. Of course, the difference can be explained that the least number of construction projects in the year in which the building authority approved the request. On average, the construction will take two to three years. Especially often it comes in the large cities and conurbations to the default. In the capital are already since years an average of at least 30 percent less homes completed, building permits were granted.
Why is that? The Economist and Director of the Institute for macroeconomics and economic research Sebastian Dullien sees a number of reasons. On the one hand, a lack of skilled workers in the construction industry, craftsmen are hard to find, the construction companies are busy. Construction was delayed because the payment to the completed sections of the successes: To be the start of construction is often high advance payments due, at the end, only minor amounts. Then a craft is often already on the next large construction site, where he can settle first, the high down-payments. The farms are now fully booked so well that the builders can exercise on retained funds, no more pressure.
on the Other hand, speculation also play a role, particularly in the large cities. Investors buy land, wait but with the construction, because they hope to land in the event of rising prices for a profit to sell. “Plots of land with building permits are worth more,” says Dullien. Similar to Peter Hübner, President of the Central Association of the German construction industry (HDB) assesses the Situation. According to industry estimates, going to wait for about a third of construction project for financial reasons. The Speculate consequences: A study of the Federal Institute for construction, urban and spatial research (BBSR), according to the speculation with land push land and property prices, especially in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt am Main.
