The issue is not: There is a lack of apartments. The issue is: There is a lack of apartments in the right locations and with the right qualities.
For example, in the Ruhr area, reasonable apartments are desperately sought after. There are still moderate prices here (rents of 5-8€ for existing stock are normal). However, about 5% are vacant on average. That is about 150,000 apartments that could be occupied immediately. Mostly, however, with simple quality.
There are even more vacant apartments and houses outside the metropolitan areas in the countryside. Everyone is flocking to the cities, where nothing works.
Just to throw a few numbers into the room to show that overall we have a surplus of living space in Germany (source empirica): - In all of Germany, about 1.7 million (yes, the number is correct – I did not misspell it) apartments are vacant - About 900,000 of these are old and dilapidated (maybe something can be done with replacement new construction?) - About 800,000 of these could be occupied immediately
Maybe we should simply make the countryside and rural communities more livable again? That should be easier (also thanks to home office) and above all much, much cheaper than promoting high-priced new construction with billions of euros in state gifts.
Example that I currently have on the table: - New construction in a metropolis - Single and business apartments (25-35 sqm), a total of around 300 units - Rents between 23 and 25€ per sqm (for that you only get a living toilet and a kitchenette) - With total costs of €60 million, there are a modest €32 million in KfW subsidies ==> what a waste of taxpayer money...