AfD on housing

The AfD wants to support families buying or building their first home with loans that are partly forgiven depending on the number of children. The real estate transfer tax would also be reduced for them. The platform hopes this will keep families in Thuringia for the long term.

The AfD wants to help families get their first home. Families should get a loan from the state. Families with more children pay back less. The tax on buying a home should also go down for families.

The support is aimed at the first purchase of an apartment or house. How much of the repayment is waived depends on the number of children. The party points to low birth rates and workers leaving the state. It sees home ownership as a sign that a family intends to live and work in the state long term.

The AfD wants to scale back construction rules on energy, insulation and heritage protection because, in its view, they make housing more expensive. The state is to support new construction and aim for 50,000 new homes.

The AfD says too many rules make building expensive. It wants to cut rules on heating, insulation and heritage protection. Building permits should come faster. The state should aim for 50,000 new homes.

The requirement to use costly energy technology would end as far as the law allows; the AfD considers the climate benefit of these rules unproven. The program also regards fire safety and noise protection rules as excessive. Master craftspeople, alongside architects, would be allowed to plan certain residential buildings. Building applications and planning approvals would be processed faster and more cheaply. Authorities would use their discretion on new-build standards in favor of builders. Housing in rural areas is also to be used more fully.

The AfD wants to abolish the Grundsteuer (annual property tax) to reduce the tax burden on housing in Thuringia. It points out that, at its urging, the real estate transfer tax for families buying their first home was already eliminated in 2023.

The AfD wants to end the property tax. This is a yearly tax on land and houses. The party says housing would cost less. It says it already helped cut the tax on buying a home.

The platform presents abolishing the property tax as a way to lower the tax burden on housing. As a past success, the AfD cites the 2023 removal of the real estate transfer tax for families buying a home for the first time. It also says the general rate of that tax was lowered. According to the platform, both happened against the resistance of the governing coalition of the Left, SPD and Greens.

The AfD wants to tighten Article 15 of the Thuringian constitution, which commits the state to working toward sufficient and adequate housing. In its view, the provision is too vague, which is why the state and municipalities have done too little for housing construction.

The Thuringian constitution says the state should make sure there is enough housing. The AfD thinks this rule is too vague. It wants to write the rule more clearly. Then the state and towns would have to do more to build homes.

The constitutional amendment would define the conditions under which the state and its local authorities must act. It would also assign responsibilities clearly. The ways in which the housing goal is carried out would be spelled out in more detail as well. The platform argues that past state governments and local authorities have made too little effort.

The AfD wants favorable conditions for housing cooperatives and wants to support social housing with low-cost land and state funding. It says social housing should be reserved for low-income residents of Thuringia and not be used to house asylum seekers.

The AfD wants to support housing co-ops. These are groups that rent out homes without making a profit. It also wants to support social housing. There should be cheap land and money from the state for this. Asylum seekers should not live in social housing.

The platform describes nonprofit housing cooperatives as a pillar of Thuringia's housing market because they do not seek profit and keep prices stable. The AfD wants to create favorable conditions for them. For social housing projects, land would be made available at low cost and the state would provide funding. The party rejects using social housing as accommodation for asylum seekers.

The AfD wants to simplify building planning law so that municipalities can develop existing residential and commercial areas and designate new ones according to local need. Municipalities should also find it easier to buy unused buildings and develop their town centers.

The AfD wants to make building easier. Local governments should be able to set aside new land for homes and businesses more easily. They should also be able to buy empty buildings in town more easily. That way, town centers get better use.

In rural areas, it should become easier to designate land for housing. Municipalities should be able to acquire vacant properties in villages and towns with less red tape. Developing inner areas is meant to preserve a coherent townscape and reduce pressure to build on the outskirts, which the platform says consumes land. Fast needs-based planning is meant to make home ownership easier and tie businesses to the municipalities.

The AfD wants to keep long-term protection for existing garage complexes. They should not have to make way, without replacement, for denser housing or for compensation measures tied to other building projects.

The AfD wants to keep garage complexes. They should not be torn down for new housing. The AfD says garages are also meeting places. Owners and tenants should not lose out.

The platform describes garage complexes not only as parking space but also as places for socializing, leisure and privacy. It rejects removing them without replacement and at the expense of owners or tenants. This applies to infill housing as well as to compensation measures.