More help for affordable homes

Beginner 2 min read

Germany needs more cooperation and more simple help for affordable homes.

This is a translation of the German original: Mehr Hilfe für bezahlbare Wohnungen

The audio is the German original — listen along while you read.

Many people in Germany find it hard to find a home. Rents are rising, and building land is scarce. The problem affects big cities, but also other places. This makes plans for a family and moves to other cities harder.

Politicians and experts therefore want to act together. The Bund, the Länder and the cities should work together. Companies, churches, social groups and tenants should also have a say. They should set clear goals: more new homes, faster permits and more homes with low rent. Hamburg already shows how such cooperation can work.

The costs have many reasons. Building is expensive, but plots of land also cost a lot of money. On top of that come taxes, fees and long paths through offices. That is why one single help is not enough. Cities and towns need more money for new housing. The state can also give cheap loans. Cooperatives can use this to build homes with fair rents. These are groups that own houses together.

Some people want to expropriate large housing companies. That means: The state takes homes away from companies and pays for them. Many experts see problems with this. Such a step takes a long time and costs very much money. Also, this does not create any new homes at first.

The crisis has old reasons. Cities have grown more strongly than many thought. In the past there were several million social housing units. Today there are fewer than one million. In the short term, poor households need more help with rent. In the long term, Germany needs more homes that are not only meant to bring profit.

Vocabulary

  • knapp - scarce / in short supply - there is not enough of it.
  • Grundstücke - plots of land / properties - pieces of land, often for houses.
  • Genossenschaften - cooperatives - groups that own and use something together.
  • enteignen - to expropriate - the state takes property and pays for it.
  • Sozialwohnungen - social housing units - cheap homes with help from the state.