AfD on housing

The AfD wants subsidized housing to go first to people who were born in Berlin or have lived there for many years. A points system would govern allocation, and a special building law for locals would be created. The platform argues that long-term Berliners are at a disadvantage when looking for housing.

The AfD wants subsidized homes to go to Berliners first. That means people born in Berlin or living there for a long time. A points system would decide who gets a home. Building homes for locals would also become easier.

The points system would combine length of residence with social criteria: income, number of children, caring for relatives, and work in fields such as police, fire service, nursing, childcare or public transit. The priority would apply to rental apartments and to units of state-owned housing companies that are put up for sale. The AfD wants to change the cooperative land development model so that homes built under it also go preferentially to locals under this system. In addition, Section 246 of the Federal Building Code, which today contains special rules for refugee housing, would be rewritten. The goal is a special building law for locals in tight housing markets, with easier exemptions and simplified changes to zoning plans.

The AfD wants to boost rental housing construction through less regulation and relies on private housing companies to do so. It rejects expropriation and wants to scale back Milieuschutz (neighborhood preservation zones). In the platform's view, a large housing supply is the best way to keep rents down.

The AfD wants fewer rules for building homes. Private companies should build more rental homes. The AfD is against expropriating housing companies. Expropriation means the state takes property away from its owner. Rules that protect existing neighborhoods should also be less strict.

The platform wants to remove obstacles that limit the supply of rental apartments and to create an investment-friendly environment. The AfD rejects expropriation and what it calls planned-economy instruments, arguing that they create no new housing and deter investors. For preservation zones under Section 172 of the Federal Building Code, it seeks a change in the law so that alterations and new construction become easier there. It justifies this in part with the need to adapt housing to an aging population. Tenants should also find it easier to become owners.

The AfD wants to pay rent subsidies to people who hold a housing entitlement certificate so they can find an apartment on the open market. It thus favors supporting people rather than buildings. Those who live in social housing without being in need would again pay a levy.

The AfD wants to pay money for rent directly to people. This is for people with a housing entitlement certificate. They could then rent a home themselves. People who are no longer poor but live in social housing would pay extra.

Housing benefit would be supplemented with rent subsidies for holders of a Wohnberechtigungsschein (housing entitlement certificate), instead of making them wait for new social housing to be built. The platform cites studies saying that more than half of social housing tenants are not, or no longer, in need. The Fehlbelegungsabgabe (a levy on tenants who no longer qualify) would therefore return. The AfD also calls for a general ban on subletting social housing to prevent abuse.

The AfD wants tenants to see every cost component in their heating bill and be able to compare providers. State-owned housing companies would have to buy energy in a way that shields tenants from short-term exchange prices. The platform points to high back payments whose causes tenants cannot trace.

The AfD wants clear bills for heating costs. Tenants should see all costs in detail. The state's housing companies should buy energy differently. High back payments should have a limit.

The platform attributes higher energy prices to the energy transition and to taxes and singles out heat contracting as opaque. In the future, all cost factors would have to be disclosed in the bill. The AfD wants to oblige state-owned companies to buy energy in a way that does not depend on short-term swings in exchange prices. Violations would lead to a legal cap on back payments. For unclear bills, the burden of proof would be reversed.

The AfD wants to help more Berliners own their homes, with public loan guarantees and an exemption from the real estate transfer tax for a first owner-occupied purchase. Investors based outside the euro area would instead pay 20 percent. Housing cooperatives would also get more support.

The AfD wants more Berliners to own their home. The state should help with a loan guarantee. A guarantee means the state backs the loan. A tax should be dropped for the first purchase. Housing cooperatives should get more help too.

The platform cites Article 28 of the Berlin constitution, which provides for promoting home ownership, and gives an ownership rate of 15 percent in Berlin compared with about 70 percent in the EU. It says ownership protects against poverty in old age and rising rents. People who earn enough but cannot get a loan for lack of equity would receive a public guarantee. The Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) would be dropped for local first-time buyers of owner-occupied homes and set at 20 percent for investors based outside the euro area. Cooperatives would get preference for state-owned building plots and in any privatization of public housing, especially those with a long track record.

The AfD wants to speed up building permits by slimming down Berlin's building code. Insulation requirements would return to the level of the early 2000s because, in the platform's view, cost and effort outweigh the benefit. It rejects new state-level duties such as retrofitting solar panels.

The AfD wants building in Berlin to go faster. There should be fewer building rules. Houses would need less insulation. The AfD is against a duty to add solar panels to old houses.

The rules of Berlin's building code would be cut and simplified. As an example, the platform says an approved new building should no longer require a separate demolition permit for the old structure. The AfD wants to lower energy standards for insulation to the level of the early 2000s, arguing that cost and red tape are out of proportion to the efficiency gained. It rejects additional state-level obligations such as retrofitting photovoltaic systems.

The AfD wants to preserve inner-city allotment gardens permanently and secure them legally. Weekend settlements would also be protected. Citing growing social hardship, it wants their users to be allowed to live there year-round for a limited period.

The AfD wants to keep the allotment gardens in Berlin. Zoning plans should protect the gardens. Weekend settlements should stay too. People should be allowed to live there full-time for 20 years.

Areas designated as green space or allotments in the land-use plan and listed under protection category 2 of the allotment development plan would be kept for the long term. Binding zoning plans would secure them further. For people in weekend settlements, the AfD seeks a right of permanent residence, initially limited to 20 years.