Potsdam in focus: Cooperative Day discusses affordable housing!

Potsdam in focus: Cooperative Day discusses affordable housing!

An exciting event will take place in Potsdam on July 9, 2025: The Cooperative Day 2025 attracts citizens with a bicycle tour through 131 years of living culture. The starting shot will be fired at 2 p.m. at the “House of the Sun” of the WG Bauverein Babelsberg eG, where those interested can follow in the footsteps of the cooperative living culture in the city. The tour ends with a final discussion that will take place at 5 p.m. in the Bürgerhaus am Schlaatz

This reports Meeting point Potsdam. In this discussion, representatives from different areas come together to discuss central topics: affordable housing, neighborly coexistence and the role of cooperative structures in urban development. Among others, Gregor Jekel, Head of Housing for the City of Potsdam, Matthias Brauner from the BBU and board members of the participating cooperatives will have their say. Kathrin Feldmann from the city office is also expected.

The focus on affordable housing

Given the urgent challenges posed by the lack of affordable housing, this roundtable discussion is of great importance. There is less and less available housing and rents continue to rise while property prices have fallen since the end of 2022. So reported QM Magazine about the increase in rental prices, which increased by over 6% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The large cities, where property prices remain high, are particularly affected.

Potsdam has already taken decisive steps in this area: a framework agreement was recently signed to support more than 800 apartments. To this end, the Ministry of Infrastructure and State Planning and three housing cooperatives have concluded an important deal. A total of 845 social housing units are to be built in the Krampnitz mountain district between 2027 and 2033, which is part of a comprehensive plan to create socially mixed housing in the city Potsdam.de reported.

Find solutions together

The discussion about affordable housing is accompanied by further political measures. The Alliance for Affordable Housing has formulated goals that aim to promote housing construction and reduce bureaucratic hurdles. New funding programs, such as low-interest loans for families, also play a role here. The availability and affordability of apartments should therefore be significantly improved in the next few years, which could potentially also be a model for us in Cologne.

Anyone interested has the opportunity to register by email to anmelde@genossenschaftstag-potsdam.de by July 14th. Participation is at your own risk and you also have the option to take part in individual stations or just the final event. In case of bad weather, a shortened indoor version is offered in the Bürgerhaus am Schlaatz.

Eating together at the buffet from 6 p.m. is intended to round off the day and provide an opportunity to have a personal conversation. It becomes clear here: The future of living in Potsdam and the cooperative structures are not just an issue for politics, but affect us all!

Find out about the event and the weather conditions the day before on the registration details and at www.genossenschaftstag-potsdam.de.