BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - In view of the falling number of building permits for apartments, the leader of the Left Party, Janine Wissler, has called on the German government to set up a housing construction fund worth 20 billion euros. The decline in building permits reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday was an alarm signal that the federal government should not ignore again, Wissler told the German Press Agency in Berlin. "The lack of building permits today is the housing shortage of tomorrow." Those who want affordable housing should not hope for the market.

According to Wissler, the proposed 20 billion euros could be used to finance a whole bundle of measures, such as tax concessions or a targeted demand for and purchase of building land. "Where speculators refuse to hand over unused building land at affordable prices, the land must be expropriated," she demanded. According to the Left Party, 150,000 apartments could be subsidized with the 20 billion euros per year.

Despite the high demand for housing in Germany, the number of building permits also fell in February, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. In the month, the construction of 18,200 apartments was approved, which was 18.3 percent or 4,100 permits less than in the same period last year. Compared to February 2022, the number of building permits even fell by more than a third.

In view of the rise in interest rates and expensive materials, residential construction is in crisis. Private developers are holding back, as are large investors. Building permits have been falling for months. Construction and real estate industry associations are calling for more subsidies from the federal government./jr/DP/zb