Berlin (German news agency) The Central Association of the German Construction Industry has welcomed the plans of Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz for better tax depreciation options for new buildings. “Today’s report is a ray of hope,” said Felix Pakleppa, general manager of the association, on Wednesday. “In view of the negative trend in housing construction that has persisted for months, a tax incentive program is an urgently needed building block to boost the construction industry.” The Central Real Estate Committee ZIA made a similar statement. “This advance could bring exactly the impulses that revive the ailing housing construction,” said ZIA President Andreas Mattner.
The chairman of the construction union IG BAU, Robert Feiger, praised the proposals as “a long shot”. Geywitz “made a big markup with her plans for a significant improvement in tax depreciation,” Feiger told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “These would give housing construction a tremendous push.”
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) must now show whether he is serious about building housing in Germany. At the same time, Feiger called for a “second push” for social housing and reiterated his call for a special fund worth 50 billion euros. “Because the actors who are the pillars of social and affordable housing construction have almost nothing from the depreciation that Geywitz is planning: something urgently needs to happen for the municipal, cooperative and church housing companies.”
The construction industry and the real estate industry also campaigned for further steps to reduce the costs of housing construction. “Another way of alleviating the misery on the housing market lies with the federal states, which have been setting the real estate transfer tax rates themselves since 2006,” said Pakleppa. “Together with the notary costs, the tax can account for almost eight percent when buying a property. If the states got their way and suspended the tax at least temporarily, many people willing to build would be grateful.” The central association is also bringing a lowering of the energy efficiency standards into play – although this could lead to higher follow-up costs. The leading association of the German real estate industry ZIA pleaded for cheaper state loans.
“A large-volume loan promotion program from the KfW with an interest rate of two percent for new buildings would now be spot on; it then had the effect of an economic stimulus package,” says Mattner.
Photo: high-rise construction site (archive) – via dts news agency
2023-08-02 16:09:05
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