Potsdam in housing chaos: 2,800 apartments are empty despite urgent need!

Potsdam in housing chaos: 2,800 apartments are empty despite urgent need!

The situation on the housing market in Potsdam and the Potsdam-Mittelmark region could hardly be more urgent. Current data shows that 930 apartments in Potsdam have been empty for more than a year, which corresponds to around one in every hundred apartments in the city. At the same time, there is a need for 1,700 apartments, which highlights the discrepancy between demand and supply. The situation is also getting worse in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district: 1,850 apartments have been waiting for new tenants for more than a year, with a demand of 3,100 units. These alarming numbers come from the population survey of the 2022 census and show how precarious the housing situation is reports maz-online.de.

The construction of new apartments is lagging significantly behind the desired goals. Every year, 2,660 new apartments would have to be built in Potsdam, of which 1,440 would be in the city itself and 1,220 in Potsdam-Mittelmark. In the first half of 2025, however, only 233 building permits were issued in Potsdam and 431 in Mittelmark. High building interest rates are also slowing down new construction, so that citizens' concerns continue to grow.

Causes of the vacancy

The vacancy rate is not just a statistical number, but also reflects the difficult reality: small landlords are often no longer interested in renting out their properties for fear of new tenants and the associated challenges. Even in rural areas where rent levels are lower, renovation costs deter potential investors. At the same time, many newly built apartments are not marketable due to the increased building interest rates. These facts mean that too many apartments are empty, even though more and more people are looking for a place to live states tagesschau.de.

A ray of hope could be a federal interest rate program that provides cheap construction money and could thereby stimulate new construction. While an investment fund for housing construction was announced in the federal government's coalition agreement, it remains to be seen when and how this will be implemented. After all, the numbers are overwhelming: In Germany, almost two million apartments are currently empty, despite a blatant lack of living space.

The regional differences

However, the situation is not only tense in Potsdam and Potsdam-Mittelmark. Statistics show a similar picture across Germany. In Berlin alone, more than 40,000 apartments are empty, while in Munich there are over 20,000 units waiting for new residents. Other cities such as Hamburg, Leipzig and Dresden are also affected, with almost 55 percent of vacant apartments having been uninhabited for more than a year. Currently, only 38 percent of vacant apartments are ready for occupancy within three months supplements tagesschau.de.

The ongoing housing shortage is hitting many people hard and is putting political decision-makers under pressure to find sensible solutions. In the coming years, innovative approaches and solutions will be required to meet these challenges.