AfD on housing

The AfD wants to create a separate "Hamburg Wohngeld" (housing allowance) to top up the federal housing allowance. It would support tenants who qualify for social housing but cannot get a unit. It would be paid for with funds currently earmarked for subsidizing social housing.

Many people have a right to social housing. But there are not enough units. The AfD wants to pay these renters money. It calls this the Hamburg housing allowance. The money would come from the social housing budget.

According to the program, more than 300,000 Hamburg households are entitled to social housing, but fewer than 3,000 new units are built each year. In the AfD's view, the federal housing allowance does not adequately reflect rising rents. The Hamburg allowance is to be funded with the 750 million euros budgeted for social housing subsidies. The slogan is to support people rather than concrete.

The AfD wants to offer residential building land at reduced prices to lower-income local residents. The basis would be the Federal Building Code, which allows such locals-first models. The party also aims to protect local identity and community cohesion.

Building land in Hamburg is very expensive. The AfD wants to sell it cheaper to locals. This is for people with less money. A points system would decide. Volunteering and work earn points.

The program cites Section 11(1) No. 2 of the Baugesetzbuch (Federal Building Code) and municipalities that already use such bylaws. A points system is to govern allocation. Points would be awarded for long-term volunteering, such as in the volunteer fire brigade or on a club board, for working in shortage occupations, and for the number of years with taxable income.

The AfD rejects the Senate's goal of growing Hamburg to more than two million residents by 2030, as well as densifying existing neighborhoods under the "Hamburger Maß" guideline. Instead, money should go into transport links and digital infrastructure in the surrounding region. The metropolitan region is to become a joint planning region with neighboring districts.

The city wants more buildings in existing neighborhoods. The AfD is against this. Hamburg should not grow to two million people. The AfD wants better links to nearby towns instead. Hamburg should plan together with its neighbors.

The AfD opposes building in courtyards, adding several stories to existing buildings, and plans to push out single-family homes and large gardens in the Elbvororte and Walddörfer districts or to raise density around suburban rail stations. It accepts taller buildings along main roads and housing on vacated commercial land using a one-third mix of social, private rental and owner-occupied units. Hamburg funds are to improve transport and digital links in the surrounding area so people can live outside the city. The metropolitan region is to become a planning region because neighboring districts have land Hamburg lacks.

The AfD wants to significantly raise Hamburg's homeownership rate, which the program puts at 25 percent. For a first owner-occupied home, the real estate transfer tax and land registry fees would be waived, notary fees capped and a home-building allowance paid. In the AfD's view, ownership protects against rent increases and poverty in old age.

Few people in Hamburg own their home. The AfD wants to change that. First-time buyers should pay no property purchase tax. Notary and agent costs should also go down. The state should also give buyers money.

The program compares Hamburg's 25 percent rate with 47 percent nationwide and 69 percent on average in the EU. Besides waiving the transfer tax and registry fees, the party that hires the real estate agent, usually the seller, would pay the commission. The home-building allowance would come from the existing social rental housing budget after deducting the Hamburg housing allowance, and down payments would be pre-financed. Young families would be exempt from the transfer tax on their first purchase, and the AfD rejects a de facto ban on single-family homes such as in the Hamburg-Nord district.