Building permits in August 2024: Alarming numbers for housing

The alarm bells ring! Germany's housing is on the brink and the latest numbers are a big wake -up call! In August 2024, only 18,281 apartments were approved - this is a dramatic decline of almost seven percent compared to the previous year. The crisis clearly manifests itself in the statistics and the construction industry trembles!

From January to August, the numbers show a disturbing picture: there were over three percent less permits for apartment buildings, while almost 12 percent were lost in single -family houses. Where did the construction projects go? In 2023 the decline was already dramatic, and the latest figures are terrifying: only 141,915 approved apartments this year, in the previous year there were 175,799! This is a loss of almost 33,900 apartments!

a look into the past

A look at the story reveals the whole tragedy of the situation: In the years before, the statistics with around 240,000 approved apartments smiled until August. The current status is as deep as in 2011. Such a misery can and must not be ignored!

The reasons for the crisis are complex, and despite the efforts of the federal government, the willingness to invest in the industry remains low. The impulses from Berlin look weak, so that the construction companies are hardly motivated to take the risk.

Hope for change

The bundle of solutions could bring the construction industry back on course! Building type E is to be decided in the cabinet in early November - a long step! However, in order to create the big liberation, companies urgently need legal framework conditions in the civil code. This is the only way to protect yourself against claims for damages if you deviate from the recognized rules of technology.

Another crucial point: The federal states urgently need to include criteria in their state building regulations in order to change the framework conditions for construction. Only then does the building type E become a paper tiger - it takes action instead of words!

and the construction industry will put high hopes in the upcoming apartment summit in Hamburg in early December. Everyone involved looks forward to the negotiations. Will there be a final offensive for housing in this legislative period? The insight is clear: if not now, when?