BSW on housing

The BSW wants heavy investment in social housing, starting in municipalities with tight markets. It plans a Bundesrat initiative to introduce nonprofit housing status, and publicly owned apartments and land are no longer to be privatized.

Many cities lack cheap apartments. The BSW wants to build more social housing. Nonprofit housing companies should get support. The state should stop selling apartments.

According to the platform, the stock of social housing in Brandenburg fell from 53,107 units in 2015 to 19,800 in 2023. A state program is to secure housing supply in cities and rural areas, and nonprofit housing companies are to be supported. In the party's view, housing should serve the common good rather than profit interests. The BSW also wants to act against rising homelessness. Better transport links to rural areas are meant to ease the market.

The BSW wants to limit rent increases through a rent cap for all of Germany. In addition, the property tax reform is not to raise state revenue and thereby push up rents through utility charges.

Rents are rising fast in many cities. The BSW wants a rent cap for all of Germany. That is a limit that rents may not go above. The property tax should not make housing more expensive either.

The platform describes sharply rising rents, especially in Cottbus, Potsdam and the area around Berlin. It says people on low incomes are being pushed out of their homes by renovations and the rent increases that follow. In the party's view, rising electricity and heating costs and the heating law make this worse. It adds that housing refugees also puts pressure on municipalities and the housing market.

The BSW wants to expand student dormitories and lower their rents. In the platform's view, studying should not depend on parents' income.

The BSW wants to build more student dorms. Rents there should go down. Studying should not depend on parents' money. Child care for students should also get better.

The platform points to rising housing and utility costs while student incomes stay flat. The Studierendenwerke (student services organizations) should receive support to create affordable housing, especially for students with disabilities or with children. Investments in student infrastructure are planned, covering child care as well as dorms.