Slashing Residential Building Costs: Verena Hubertz's Ambitious Plan
Costs for construction projects are predicted to significantly decrease.
Germany's fresh face in the Housing Ministry, Verena Hubertz, is aiming high. Her mission? To make building a home a more affordable dream. She sees vast opportunities for savings in the realms of prefabricated walls and long-term lease agreements. Thousands of euros could be slashed off the construction costs per square meter, according to Hubertz.
In an exclusive chat with "Bild am Sonntag," the SPD politician hinted at her plans to cut residential building costs in half. How? By ramping up the use of prefabricated products. This means producing building walls in factories instead of on-site construction, which could potentially save thousands of euros per square meter.
Affordable Housing: More Than Just a Button Away
Hubertz isn't stopping at walls. She's also cracking down on escalating land costs by exploring perpetual usufruct, a systematic approach to address the entire lifecycle of a building and its cost drivers.
When asked about maintaining the goal of constructing 400,000 new apartments annually, Hubertz was pragmatic. "We didn't carve that target in stone for four years when the world is changing rapidly," she said, emphasizing adaptability in an evolving landscape.
Last year, around 250,000 apartments were completed, a figure Hubertz considers disappointing. "We've got to get out of that rut. I'm glad building permits are picking up again," she shared.
Putting Efficiency into Construction
Hubertz's approach to reducing costs is multi-pronged. She plans to leverage streamlined approval processes, modern construction techniques, and innovative materials to make the industry more efficient and cost-effective. Her ambition is to slash construction costs substantially, potentially in half, while maintaining quality and affordability.
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- Construction Industry: On the Path to Efficiency
- Housing Construction: A Journey Towards Cost Reduction
[1] Enrichment Insight: Hubertz plans to save costs by increasing the use of prefabricated components and streamlining construction processes.
[2] Enrichment Insight: Addressing land costs through long-term lease agreements (ground leases) is a key part of Hubertz's strategy.
[3] Enrichment Insight: Hubertz intends to speed up approval processes to fast-track building projects and reduce bureaucratic delays.
[4] Enrichment Insight: Hubertz advocates for the use of modern construction techniques to reduce both initial and maintenance expenses.
[5] Enrichment Insight: Hubertz's approach is rooted in efficiency, innovation, and cost management for residential building projects.
While Verena Hubertz aims to reduce residential building costs, her strategy involves more than just streamlined approval processes and modern construction techniques. In the realm of politics and general-news, Hubertz is also exploring the use of perpetual usufruct – a systematic approach to mitigate land costs – as a means to address the entire lifecycle of a building and its cost drivers. Additionally, she intends to slash costs by significantly increasing the use of prefabricated products in construction, potentially saving thousands of euros per square meter.
