Dhe prices for the construction of residential buildings currently only know one direction: steeply upwards. The Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday that it rose by 16.4 percent in 2022. This is the highest change compared to the previous year since the survey began in 1958. Steel bars were on average 40.4 percent more expensive, and the prices for welded wire mesh rose by 38.1 percent. Flat glass for windows, glass doors and glass walls even rose by 49.3 percent.
Expensive building materials and higher interest rates for real estate loans mean that many housing companies are currently cutting back on new construction. According to a survey by the housing industry association GdW, every third new apartment originally planned for this year will no longer be built. Market leader Vonovia does not even want to start any projects this year. According to the company, properties that used to be offered for 12 euros cold rent per square meter now have to be called for almost 20 euros. But only a few people can afford this.
The fact that rents and purchase prices for new buildings have reached dizzying heights has not gone unnoticed by politicians either. She sees the responsibility for this above all on the companies themselves. “Construction companies should be prepared to plan more apartments that are not designed to be rented for 18 euros per square meter or sold for more than 10,000 euros per square meter,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently said in an interview the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” know. The companies would have to build for the majority of the citizens. “Something went wrong in Germany for decades.”
Average cost of 4275 euros
But is it still possible to build for less than 18 euros cold rent per square meter? The construction industry association did the math and came to the conclusion: no. In urban multi-story apartment buildings, the price of the land already accounts for an average of 600 euros per square meter of rental space. In addition, there are 150 euros for the development, 300 euros for planning and approval procedures, 3000 euros for construction costs and 225 euros for financing costs only for the construction period, according to a list available to the FAZ. The average costs add up to 4275 euros per square meter of rental space.
According to the association, with a target return of 4 percent, this results in a basic rent of 14.25 euros per square meter. However, many municipalities now stipulate that a certain proportion of the apartments must be rented cheaply, usually at 6.50 euros per square meter. According to the construction industry, with 30 percent apartments at this price, the remaining apartments have to be rented for 17.57 euros, with a share of 40 percent even for 19.41 euros.
The sound gets rougher
“The fact that new-build apartments today cost 18 euros per square meter is not due to us, but to the increased costs and the political framework,” says Marcus Becker, Vice President of the Eastern Construction Industry Association and Managing Director of the construction company Kondor Wessels. “When the chancellor says that the construction industry should pull itself together, that really surprises me.” In his calculation, costs for planting trees elsewhere, the resettlement of animal species and costs for the creation of infrastructure are still included not even included. “For a school place, 50,000 euros per apartment quickly become due. This also prevents cheap construction.”
In view of the rising prices and the falling number of new buildings, the tone between politics and the housing industry is becoming increasingly rough. The request by the Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz (SPD) that the industry should increase its productivity, build more with prefabricated parts and robots, then more could be built, was met with astonishment in the industry. “The problem at the moment is certainly not the lack of skilled workers,” says Marcus Becker. “The first companies are already doing short-time work due to a lack of orders.”
Geywitz’ Parliamentary State Secretary Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) demanded on Wednesday that Vonovia should stop paying dividends to shareholders and use the money for the new building. The deputy federal chairman of the industrial trade union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt, Harald Schaum, does not want to accept the ban on new construction either. “It is high time that the federal government got involved with Vonovia. He must acquire a stake of 25 percent plus one share,” he demanded. Geywitz wants to present plans for the promotion of non-profit housing construction in March and advertise them to investors.
#Residential #construction #euros #cold #square #meter