Overview
- The Sozialer Wohn-Monitor 2026 finds Germany needs about 400,000 new homes per year to close the gap, yet current trends point to roughly 200,000 annually.
- The deficit is concentrated in affordable and social housing, with younger people, retirees, and people with disabilities facing the greatest difficulty finding homes.
- Regional estimates show the largest shortfalls in North Rhine-Westphalia (376,000), Bavaria (233,000) and Baden-Württemberg (196,000), with deficits also in Berlin (56,000), Hamburg (23,000) and Bremen (13,000).
- Higher interest rates, rising construction costs and a drop in building permits have curtailed private building, and expiring rent controls are shrinking the stock of price-regulated units.
- Unions and social organizations call for a federal–state pact, increased funding and a rapid doubling of social housing from about one million to at least two million units, arguing the market will not resolve the shortage.