2024-07-04 15:25:03
Apartments are in short supply, especially in urban areas. Nevertheless, one in 23 apartments in Germany is empty. The reasons and consequences are varied.
Even though the demand for housing is high, many apartments in Germany are empty. According to census surveys, as of May 15, 2022, there were around 1.9 million apartments that were not being used for various reasons. This corresponds to a vacancy rate of 4.3 percent, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office.
“The census figures shock us all,” says Ralph Henger, economist for housing policy and real estate economics at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Cologne). The high vacancy rates show that the real estate market is divided. While there is an enormous housing shortage in urban areas, properties are empty in many rural regions.
The problem exists throughout Germany. “Eastern Germany is particularly affected, however, because the migration of young people is greater there,” explains Henger. In some cases, vacancy rates there are more than ten percent. But regions in western Germany are also affected, such as the Eifel, Franconia and Saarland.
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According to the Federal Statistical Office, over half of the properties (55 percent) have not been occupied for more than a year. “This is actually structural vacancy, and it will not disappear into thin air,” says Matthias Waltersbacher from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development. He heads the housing and real estate markets department there.
Only a little more than a third of the empty apartments (38 percent) were ready to move into in the next three months. In the city states of Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin, the respective proportions of these quickly available apartments were significantly higher at 52 to 61 percent. Construction work or renovations were planned for almost every fourth empty apartment (24 percent). Demolition was planned for only four percent of the empty apartments. Seven percent were to be sold or used by the owners themselves. “Other reasons” were given for every fifth empty apartment.
Experts are observing the so-called doughnut effect: new residential areas are being built on the outskirts of towns, while inner-city locations are falling into disrepair. According to Matthias Waltersbacher, the reasons for this are not only old buildings but also smaller apartment sizes, the shorter distance to neighbors and poor parking options.
According to Henger from the IW Cologne, vacancy is accompanied by huge problems. “For example, dilapidated houses also cause property values in the neighborhood to fall,” says the economist. Crime and vandalism also play a role. In addition, the existing infrastructure must be maintained. The costs for this must be borne by the population who still live there. “This is one of the biggest hidden problems of vacancy.”
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“1.9 million apartments in Germany represent a significant amount of unused potential,” says Waltersbacher. It is important to keep young people in the regions. For example, he believes that peripheral regions should be given more cultural support and transport links to larger cities should be improved. In times when more people are working from home, empty apartments could also be converted into co-working spaces.
To combat vacancy, there is the home ownership program “Young people buy old.” “This is a good program to reactivate vacant apartments and houses outside of urban areas,” says economist Henger. Some municipalities already have it. The federal government plans to implement the program nationwide – “but funds are scarce.”
The data on vacancies come from the 2022 census, which is based on official registers and a survey of twelve percent of the population on various topics. According to the Federal Office, around 23 million owners provided information about their properties in the building and housing census, as did around 8,000 housing companies.