Living in Germany is getting more and more expensive. Many people choose their own home as a place of refuge, especially in times of pandemics and crises. But can you still afford your own four walls?
housing situation
According to Statista, the living space per capita in Germany was around 47.7 square meters in 2021. The rooms that can actually be used as living space are counted as living space. Accordingly, cellars or the like were not added. The number of dwellings was approximately 43.1 million, including all residential and non-residential buildings – including dormitories. Since this number was 2.5 million in 2011, there has been an increase of 6 percent within ten years.
Despite these developments, around 10.5 percent of Germans lived in overcrowded apartments in 2021, i.e. in apartments where the number of rooms was disproportionately low. Single parents and their children were particularly affected. In rural areas, the overcrowding rate was 4.9 percent, while in cities the overcrowding rate was about three times higher at 15.5 percent. In Berlin, for example, the population is growing faster than the housing stock. This lack of living space, combined with massive demand, is causing rents and real estate prices to rise.
rental apartments
According to Statista, around 36.91 million people rent their homes in Germany. In 2022, nearly 19.9 million main tenant households spent 27.8 percent of their income on their rent. The average gross rent per square meter at federal level is around 8.70 euros. In accordance with the overcrowding rate, the net cold rent in big cities is higher than in the country (about 30 percent). According to Statista, the cities with the highest rents in 2022 were Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt am Main.
The rising rental and housing prices are also reflected in the number of people who found it financially impossible to cope with unexpectedly large expenses. In 2021, this affected around a third of the total population.
Property
Although most people in Germany rent their homes, many dream of owning their own home. According to the Interhyp Wohntraum study in 2021, as many as 72 percent of tenants would like their own property. However, this seems less and less possible, especially in large metropolitan areas. Potential owners therefore have to go to the country. Real estate prices have increased by about 62.9 percent compared to 2015. Nevertheless, the ownership rate is 42 percent, which means that around half of the German population lives in their own property. According to a Statista forecast, this figure is expected to rise to 50.1 percent by 2030.
Generation Z
Since young people in particular can no longer afford their own home, Generation Z seems to be particularly affected, i.e. all birth cohorts from 1996 up to and including 2009. Rental relationships that were established in 2019 or later are associated with above-average rents and encumbrance rates. The number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, i.e. whether city or country, is irrelevant. In addition, around 37.9 percent of students in Germany were at risk of poverty in 2021. Their income was therefore less than 60 percent of the median income of the entire population.
In order to keep an overview of this socio-political and extremely life-determining topic, it is therefore necessary to observe further developments in the housing situation in Germany.
Editorial office finanzen.net