Overview
- The Wissenschaftlicher Beirat released a Gutachten on Monday that links scarce housing and rising rents to lower labour mobility and weaker GDP growth.
- Official analyses cited in the coverage estimate a gap of more than one million dwellings and say about 320,000 new homes per year are needed to 2030 while forecasts show completions below 200,000 for 2027–28.
- The Beirat proposes supply‑focused fixes: stronger incentives for municipalities to designate building land, a wider infrastructure‑cost levy or planning‑value equalisation to make owners pay for public costs, and looser rules to allow more floor area in older plans and modest infill.
- The report highlights how current municipal incentives are 'perverse' because local governments shoulder new costs for schools and transport while private owners reap most land value gains, so the panel calls for cost‑sharing to change that balance.
- Households already spend close to 30% of consumption on housing and many workers find moving to better jobs uneconomic, so the panel says tax relief for job‑related relocations and faster building are needed though the government has not announced concrete steps yet.