Howoge Company Granted Increased Loan Capacity for School Construction by Berlin Senate

The state-owned Berlin housing association Howoge is allowed to take out significantly more loans than previously planned for school construction. The Senate decided on Tuesday to double the permitted credit volume to 5.6 billion euros. Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) justified the step with sharply increased energy and construction costs. According to him, without a readjustment, Howoge would have had to reduce the number of its school construction projects.

A few years ago, Howoge was commissioned by the Senate to implement 38 projects as part of a multi-billion school building offensive. There are 25 new buildings and replacement buildings with 16,000 school places and 13 renovation measures with 10,000 school places. After completion of the schools, the state of Berlin rents them from Howoge for a maximum of 32 years before they become state property. According to Evers, as a result of the higher construction costs, the rental payments will also increase to a maximum of up to 472 million euros per year.

Howoge is not the only property developer involved in the school construction offensive. Schools are also built or renovated by other actors.