Germany's new residential construction is on course for a record collapse. Robert Feiger, head of the Industrial Union for Construction, Agriculture and the Environment (IG BAU), warned that fewer than 200,000 new homes may be completed in the coming period , not even half of the minimum the country needs. "A red line is being crossed," he said.
Feiger based his assessment on a range of construction indicators, including advance orders for building materials and expert estimates from within the sector. His remarks came ahead of the Housing Construction Day, organised jointly by seven leading industry associations in Berlin.
Beyond social housing, Feiger stressed that affordable homes broadly are a prerequisite for functioning labour markets. As the baby boomer generation retires, the workforce that replaces them must be able to live within reach of their jobs. "Even today, many workers are commuting hours and kilometres just to get to work," he said. Those least able to afford housing are suffering the most from the shortage.
Feiger also sounded the alarm on the economic consequences of inaction. One in seven jobs and one in every seven euros of gross value added in Germany is tied to the construction sector. Without a significant increase in homebuilding, he argued, there can be no economic recovery. New residential construction in particular is central to the economic turnaround the federal government has promised. Feiger called on the government to treat housing construction as the decisive driver of domestic demand, and to act on it with full force.
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