Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Bad news: construction must become much more expensive. I don't like that either.

Actually, it would be enough if builders planned and built more resource-consciously. And for that, more good role models and realistic concepts are needed, especially regarding the handling of existing buildings. But how well that works can be seen in the registration figures for cars. Size is unfortunately a status symbol, like the double garage and the pool.

Well, if you look at it closely, one has to ask in terms of the population structure in Germany why so much still needs to be built at all. Housing space is not nearly being lost to the extent that new buildings are constructed, nor does the population change significantly. There are millions of retirees living alone or as couples in large houses, while young families occupy small apartments. If one is serious about environmental considerations, there should first be a sensible redistribution of the existing stock here as well. This is already unthinkable today, property is inviolable, and if Aunt Erna simply wants to live alone in her 200m² bungalow for another 20 years, she is allowed and supposed to do so. In this respect, I do not yet see how society will make major sacrifices and restrictions here when even such fundamentally simple problems are not addressed. Constantly developing new areas and continuing to build is not the solution, I agree with you .

At some point, I came across a very old book on building on Pinterest. The house was built step by step. First, the main room was built (later the kitchen and living room), then the bedroom, and eventually the children's room as an attic chamber. In that sense, building was probably more expensive in the past (in relation to income) than now. Or debt was unusual.

When I recap the story of the demolished house: Former Ernhaus – age unknown, always old. Actually, the farmstead was repeatedly extended and rebuilt. Every generation left something behind. The house was tinkered with and adapted until it was no longer possible. My grandpa had already regretted not having torn it down; we then took it over 60 years later. Maybe that was good, too. In recent years, technology has made immense progress.

I just think our standards in the last 30-40 years have changed. Not only regarding the house, but everything. Maybe going back would be good not only for the environment but also for us.

Maybe going back would be good not only for the environment but also for us.

When you live in your own single-family house, such sayings are easy to make. Two years ago, the four of us were living in just under 70m2 on the third floor without an elevator in a problem neighborhood with small children; from my perspective, it wouldn't have been possible to designate enough building areas. But as long as it is others who want a single-family house with a family and they themselves are already sitting in a fairly newly built single-family house, some privileged forum writers suddenly rediscover environmental protection. The change of perspective apparently happens quite quickly :-)

That is already unthinkable as of today, property is inviolable, and if Aunt Erna still wants to live alone in her 200m² bungalow for another 20 years, she may and should be allowed to do so. In this respect, I do not yet see how society makes a big sacrifice and restricts itself here, if such fundamentally simply solvable things are not even tackled.

How do you want to solve that easily? Does Aunt Erna have to move out of the house in her old age, a house she perhaps helped build herself, into a rental apartment where she is utterly unhappy because it is unfamiliar to her, because she no longer has acquaintances there? Then you can of course also solve the pension problem at the same time, since Aunt Erna will not live long after the relocation. A house is not just a shell that can be changed arbitrarily for most people. Often a lot of effort and passion is put into it, and one does not simply want to give that up.

I do not accept the accusation of carelessness here 1. it was not only about a house but about our entire lifestyle which consists of "more and more" as well. What did someone ironically write here recently? I quote loosely "I work 70 hours a week so I can afford a seminar on mindfulness on the weekend" 2. we lived in a multi-generational house for almost our entire life. 3. we thought for a long time about whether to renovate or demolish 4. we built on a plot that is unattractive to many because it is in the town center. 5. through the demolition and new construction, we left less sealed surface than before