Which parts of Germany have hit goals on new affordable housing?
Despite ambitious government plans for new constructions, the number of social housing units continues to dwindle in Germany. However, the situation varies greatly between states.
Social housing - or “Sozialwohnungen” - are homes subsidised by the German government, which play a crucial role in providing affordable accommodation for people with low incomes.
However, the number of such housing units in Germany has decreased once again in the past year: at the end of 2022, there were approximately 1.088 million such apartments nationwide for people with low incomes, which is around 14,000 fewer than the previous year.
This was reported by German news agency DPA, citing the response from the German government to a question from Die Linke's (Left Party) parliamentary group.
Germany's coalition government had previously announced its intention to provide 100,000 new social housing units every year. However, the result has been negative, partly due to approximately 36,500 units no longer being subject to rent control, according by Caren Lay, the housing policy expert from the Left Party who raised the inquiry.
Regional disparities in social housing
However, the impact of this decline varies across Germany's 16 states.
In Hesse, there was a notable increase of nearly 1,700 social housing units last year, bringing the total to 82,172. Hamburg also witnessed a positive trend, with the number of social housing units rising by just over 600 to reach 81,006, following a decline in previous years.
READ ALSO: Why Germany’s housing crisis is expected to drag on
Many states recorded a significant decrease: for example, the number of social housing units in Lower Saxony dropped by almost 2,600 to 52,601, and in Berlin, it decreased by around 4,500 to 104,757.
The majority of new social housing constructions were in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) had the highest number of social housing units overall, with 435,025, followed by Bavaria with 133,129, and Berlin.
When measured per 100,000 inhabitants, Hamburg had the highest ratio of social housing units with 4,281, followed by Berlin with 2,790, and NRW with 2,398.
The most extensive new construction activity in the field of subsidised rental housing was seen in Bavaria, with 4,056 approved new construction projects and in Baden-Württemberg with 3,898 such measures.
READ ALSO: Why does Germany keep missing its house building targets?
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Social housing - or “Sozialwohnungen” - are homes subsidised by the German government, which play a crucial role in providing affordable accommodation for people with low incomes.
However, the number of such housing units in Germany has decreased once again in the past year: at the end of 2022, there were approximately 1.088 million such apartments nationwide for people with low incomes, which is around 14,000 fewer than the previous year.
This was reported by German news agency DPA, citing the response from the German government to a question from Die Linke's (Left Party) parliamentary group.
Germany's coalition government had previously announced its intention to provide 100,000 new social housing units every year. However, the result has been negative, partly due to approximately 36,500 units no longer being subject to rent control, according by Caren Lay, the housing policy expert from the Left Party who raised the inquiry.
Regional disparities in social housing
However, the impact of this decline varies across Germany's 16 states.
In Hesse, there was a notable increase of nearly 1,700 social housing units last year, bringing the total to 82,172. Hamburg also witnessed a positive trend, with the number of social housing units rising by just over 600 to reach 81,006, following a decline in previous years.
READ ALSO: Why Germany’s housing crisis is expected to drag on
Many states recorded a significant decrease: for example, the number of social housing units in Lower Saxony dropped by almost 2,600 to 52,601, and in Berlin, it decreased by around 4,500 to 104,757.
The majority of new social housing constructions were in the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) had the highest number of social housing units overall, with 435,025, followed by Bavaria with 133,129, and Berlin.
When measured per 100,000 inhabitants, Hamburg had the highest ratio of social housing units with 4,281, followed by Berlin with 2,790, and NRW with 2,398.
The most extensive new construction activity in the field of subsidised rental housing was seen in Bavaria, with 4,056 approved new construction projects and in Baden-Württemberg with 3,898 such measures.
READ ALSO: Why does Germany keep missing its house building targets?
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