The Federal Cabinet has passed a draft law to accelerate housing construction and secure housing - the so-called construction turbo. This will give local authorities, construction companies and those willing to build the opportunity to build faster and more flexibly.
Verena Hubertz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, emphasizes: "With the draft law, we are now igniting the construction turbo. Adding storeys, redensification and new builds, the construction turbo accelerates and empowers local communities". The aim is to reduce the average planning period from five years to just two months. At the same time, the protection against conversion will be extended in order to strengthen tenants' rights.
The bill aims to amend the Building Code in order to facilitate and accelerate residential construction projects. The "construction turbo" is intended to create affordable housing for people who are particularly affected by the housing shortage, such as families, trainees, students, older people and people on low incomes.
The most important innovations in the draft bill are A temporary deviation from building planning regulations until December 31, 2030 is to be permitted. This makes it possible to quickly create new living space through new construction, conversion or change of use. In the area covered by a development plan, more intensive residential development is to be made possible in entire streets, for example by adding storeys, extensions or building in the second row. This makes redensification easier. In unplanned inner areas, the construction of new residential buildings will also be permitted in addition to the existing possibilities. However, rental apartments may still not be converted into owner-occupied apartments without further ado. The so-called protection against conversion in areas with a tight housing market will be extended by five years. It is also to be made easier to create new living space in so-called outlying areas and outside a built-up district.
The legislative process should be completed in the Bundestag by the fall of 2025. The law does not require the approval of the Bundesrat. You can find the current status of the legislative process at .www.bmwsb.bund.de/wohnungsbau-turbo
Photo: © Tirza Renebarg, Grabener Verlag GmbH, Kiel, 2025
