The Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance want to combat the housing shortage Lars Klingbeil (SPD) establish a federal company for affordable housing. This new company would not be a construction company or a government agency, but a kind of developer and lender for housing projects, it says in a paper, that the South German newspaperand the dpa news agency.
“The private housing market alone cannot realize the necessary new construction at affordable prices,” says Klingbeil’s paper. The federal company with a “lean organizational structure” could therefore Housing projects develop, advertise publicly and help with inexpensive loans. “The contracted construction companies deliver the apartments,” it continues.
Klingbeil mentioned the idea of a federally owned housing association in his reform speech last week, but did not elaborate further. He received support from Federal Construction Minister Verena Hubertz (SPD). Klingbeil would like to work with her to develop a concept in the next few months.
A change in the basic law would be necessary for federal construction companies
According to Klingbeil’s ideas, the pure construction costs should be reduced to less than 3,000 euros per square meter. This is to be achieved through an “industrial ramp-up” of serial construction with acceptance guarantees. This is what is meant standardized construction with prefabricated parts. The Federal Real Estate Agency should provide public land, it goes on to say. When implementing this, the federal company could rely on public-private partnerships.
However, in order to establish such a society, a change in the constitution is necessary, as Housing is a state matter. “The federal government – in cooperation with the states – is striving for a corresponding change to the Basic Law,” says the paper. To change the Basic Law, two-thirds majorities would be necessary in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Left leader Jan van Aken had already signaled his approval last week.
The Pestel Institute estimates that there is currently a shortage of around 1.4 million apartments in Germany. This comes from that Social Housing Monitor 2026 which the Pestel Institute presented in January together with the Social Housing Alliance. In 2024, just around 246,000 new apartments were completed, significantly less than the 400,000 that was once set as a target by the former traffic light government. By 2026, the number could even fall to 200,000 new apartments per year, predicts the leading association of the housing industry (GdW).