Against a housing construction fast-track: more social housing requirements and converting existing buildings

Germany has too few affordable homes, especially for families, students, and trainees. The federal government’s planned “housing construction fast-track” is intended to solve the problem, but in this assessment it brings no real improvements: it does not actually require anyone to build and it favors speculation. Instead, at least 50 percent of new homes approved under exemptions should be socially bound, and cities should get stronger tools to buy and manage land. The focus should be on converting existing buildings, not on new development areas on undeveloped land.