Altenburger Land: Urgent need for housing despite empty apartments!

Altenburger Land: Urgent need for housing despite empty apartments!

In Altenburger Land the housing situation is in jeopardy. A current report from the Pestel Institute highlights an urgent aging problem in the housing stock: around 35,600 apartments that were built before 1970 make up 65% of all existing apartments in the district. Many of these properties urgently need renovation, but the real estate market is characterized by rising prices. The economic hurdles make access to renovated living space difficult, and at the same time there is an acute need for new housing for workers in the skilled trades and care sectors.

As the analysis shows, the number of households in Altenburger Land will decline by around 4,100 over the next 15 years. Given this demographic, not only do empty apartments in the region need to be renovated, 6,300 of which have currently been unused for a year or longer, but numerous new construction projects must also be initiated. The challenges are enormous: Many of the empty apartments can no longer be renovated economically, which means that new solutions need to be found.

Renovation and housing construction in focus

The forecast is clear: the number of people of working age will fall by 24% to 37,000 people over the next 15 years. At the same time, the population is getting older, and of the approximately 66,000 inhabitants at that time, around 26,200 people will be of retirement age, which makes up 37% of the population. These demographic changes make new construction essential to meet the need for living space. Cheap construction money with a maximum of two percent interest is required in order to promote housing construction and to see it as a driving factor for the domestic economy.

At the same time, the federal government is criticized because excessive energy-saving requirements make housing construction unnecessarily more expensive and complicated. At this point, political decision-makers are asked to create the framework conditions that make it easier to build new living spaces and thus counteract the housing shortage in the Altenburger Land.

A wide field between supply and demand

The significant decline in the number of people able to work can also have an impact on the entire situation on the labor market. While part of the population goes into well-deserved retirement, the question remains where the future workforce will live. In an area where new construction is not progressing as desired, it may be time to not just renovate, but to restrategize.

It is clear: in order to meet the challenges of the future, housing construction in the Altenburger Land must not only be given greater focus, but also actively tackled. There is a need for new, affordable housing for young people, single parents and seniors. For the region to thrive, it requires strong action and a deep understanding of the needs of its residents.