Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, Clara Geiwitz (SPD), looks over a carbon concrete slab at the construction site of the first carbon concrete public building during her visit to Saxony (Photo: dpa).
Federal Minister of Construction and member of the SPD, Clara Geivitz, is optimistic about the future of housing in Germany. Despite the current crisis, the industry has shown stability in terms of construction completions, Geiwitz explained in Berlin, referring to the nearly 295,000 new apartments completed last year.
However, Geiwitz emphasized that the coming year will be difficult due to the weak economy. The number of construction applications is down, he said at Real Estate Industry Day on Tuesday.
Manual or Serial?
Achieving the goal of 400,000 new apartments a year would require a significant increase in productivity, Geiwitz said. The government had committed to creating 400,000 new homes each year. Geiwitz once again advocated serial construction, i.e. a series of buildings, but without the monotony of previous decades.
“Pretty or Ugly can be built either by hand or in series,” Geiwitz explained. High requirements for energy efficiency, aesthetics and other aspects will make the apartments more expensive, so that only a few can afford it. “It’s not my model,” he emphasized.
Fewer construction specifications are required
Geywitz announced a series of new regulations designed to make construction easier, cheaper and faster. This includes the introduction of the so-called E building type, which is a simpler construction method with reduced standards to build more cost-effectively. “There are endless rules we have to follow,” he said. This also applies to noise and air protection regulations. Some car parking requirements should be removed. In addition, further tax incentives, interest subsidies and selective subsidies are planned for the conversion of existing properties and the conversion of vacant commercial properties into residential properties.
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