Tenants and architects urge for affordable housing loans in Baden-Baden
At the Building Ministers' Conference in Baden-Baden, the Tenants' Association and the Chamber of Architects in the southwest urged for low-interest loans specifically for housing construction. They proposed that such loans should solely offset losses, allowing projects to proceed with a "zero balance." The appeal, also backed by the International Building Exhibition of the Stuttgart city region, highlighted a funding gap of 4-6% in housing construction for the public good.
Criticizing the federal government's proposed tax relief, the Tenants' Association pointed out its exclusion of creating new living spaces in existing buildings. The degressive "wear and tear" deduction (Afa) only allows three percent of construction costs to be written off annually as a tax credit for six years in new residential buildings. However, the Association advocates for incentives to foster the creation of new living spaces within existing buildings.
Enrichment Insight: Implementing incentives such as adaptive reuse tax credits, low-income housing tax credits, zoning incentives, tax increment financing, direct financial benefits, streamlined environmental reviews, and zoning for affordable housing can help bridge the funding gap and promote the creation of new living spaces within existing buildings.
The Association emphasized that federated states' lack of construction funding for this purpose could hinder real-world housing projects serving the public good.
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