CDU on housing

The CDU wants to meet land needs for housing, business, and infrastructure primarily within existing built-up areas, but still sees moderate designation of new land as necessary. Municipalities are to get clear guidelines in the state development plan and access to special loans.

The CDU wants to use free land inside towns first. If that is not enough, new land at the edge of towns should be possible. This should harm nature as little as possible. Towns should be able to get special loans for this.

According to the platform, infill often fails because of ownership issues, price expectations, resistance from neighbors, or contamination; industrial projects also need large connected sites. New land should therefore remain possible, in an environmentally sound way and with ecological compensation. Municipalities should designate only land they control or where prompt construction is secured by contract, to avoid vacant lots. Land development is to qualify for special loans if expected sale proceeds cover the costs in the medium term. The state wants to tie municipal planning into an overall strategy through easy-to-use guidelines in the state development plan.

The CDU wants to revise the state building code and digitalize and simplify building procedures. Construction processes are to be managed with digital building models (BIM), and innovative building methods are to be supported.

The CDU wants to rewrite the building rules in the Saarland. Applications should become digital and simpler. Building projects should be planned with digital models. The CDU wants to support new building methods like 3D printing.

The revision is meant to improve access to building-related advice and permits. The CDU wants to examine whether the lower building supervision authorities can be merged into one central authority with specialized branches or into a ministry, to reach uniform standards, for example in fire safety. Building Information Modeling is to capture and link all data on planning, construction, and operation of building projects. Pilot projects and technologies such as 3D printing, smart homes, or intelligent facades are to receive support.

The CDU wants to align the state development plan with sustainability, climate and environmental protection, social and economic concerns, and the needs of municipalities. New building areas should be ecological where possible, and the plan is to be passed by the state parliament as a law.

A plan sets out how the state uses its land. The CDU wants to change this plan. It should consider the environment, climate, economy, and towns. Ecological model villages are to be built. The state parliament should pass the plan as a law.

The plan is to provide for the continuing need for residential land and for additional building areas in municipalities. These areas should be developed as ecological building areas where possible. Ecological model villages are planned mainly near the university and its research institutes and close to the Luxembourg border, where the platform sees high housing demand. The state planning act is to be amended so that the state parliament adopts the development plan by law each time.

The CDU wants owning a home to stay affordable, especially for young people and families. It wants to expand funding programs for buying and renovating, achieve exemption thresholds in the real estate transfer tax, and allow new building areas where demand is high.

The CDU wants young families to be able to afford their own house. There should be more support for this. Part of the purchase price should be tax-free. Where many people want to build, there should be new building areas.

Existing programs for buying and renovating homes are to continue and be stepped up, as is support for municipalities in buying and demolishing houses in town centers. Municipalities are to have full-time vacancy management that develops reuse plans for key properties and empty shops. The exemption thresholds in the real estate transfer tax should apply uniformly nationwide. The platform cites a home ownership rate of 64.7 percent (2018) and sharply rising construction costs; municipalities with excess demand are to get new building areas as needed. The CDU is open to new kinds of tax incentives.

The CDU wants to create affordable housing for all income groups, including people with middle incomes. The state-owned housing company WOGE is to build more, state land is to be made available, and public land is to be awarded by concept rather than price.

The CDU wants more low-cost apartments. People with middle incomes should benefit too. The state's housing company should build more. The state will check which of its own plots can be used for housing.

Funding for social housing is to be anchored in the state budget. The CDU wants to adjust federal and state funding tools so that skilled workers, police officers, and care workers and their families also benefit. In an immediate program, all state-owned properties in urban areas are to be checked for housing use, with suitable sites handed to the state-owned housing company. When public land is awarded, the best housing or urban design concept should be able to win ("Konzeptvergabe", concept-based award). Municipalities are to be encouraged both to build more densely within towns and to provide new building land.

The CDU wants to make town centers in Saarland more attractive and keep small and mid-sized retailers competitive. A strengthened funding guide in the state building ministry is meant to help make better use of EU and federal funding.

The CDU wants to make town centers in Saarland nicer. Small shops should be able to stay there. The building ministry has a funding guide. This is an adviser for public grants. This adviser should get more tasks.

The platform announces new concepts so that each municipality keeps its own character and central locations are upgraded. Mid-sized retail is meant to stay competitive. The funding guide position in the building ministry is to be strengthened and become the coordinating and advising contact for all grant programs across ministries. The goal is to use European and national funding as fully as possible.

The CDU wants to strengthen sustainable building in the state administration and reward it with higher grants in funding programs. The state is also to emphasize design and quality in its own building projects and give more support to building culture.

The CDU wants building in Saarland to be more eco-friendly. Those who build this way and get it certified should receive more grant money. The state should care about good design in its own buildings. There should be more design contests for this. The Stiftung Baukultur Saar foundation should get more money.

The state administration is to build up expertise in sustainable construction and move ahead quickly with the ongoing pilot using the Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges Bauen (BNB, a sustainability rating system for buildings). According to the platform, higher construction costs for better standards usually pay for themselves during operation. Suitable state projects are to hold regular design competitions, and funding programs are to set incentives for this as well. Guides are planned for renovating buildings that shape a town's appearance, such as workers' and farmhouses. The CDU wants to support preparations for an International Building Exhibition in the Greater Region and expand funding for the Stiftung Baukultur Saar.

The CDU wants to work with the city of Saarbrücken on a plan for housing construction and renovation. The aim is housing that meets demand, is sustainable and remains affordable for everyone.

Living in Saarbrücken has become expensive. The CDU wants to make a plan with the city. The plan should cover building and renovating homes. In the end, everyone should be able to afford a home.

The platform notes that city living has become expensive in the Saarland too, and that this affects the state capital in particular. The plan is to take an urban development approach and cover both new construction and renovation. State and city are to draw it up together.

The CDU wants many more barrier-free and disability-friendly homes and wants to write this goal into law. Support and care services for people with disabilities and people needing care are to become more flexible and personal.

There should be many more homes without barriers. This also applies to older people. The CDU wants to put this into law. Help and care should fit each person better.

Inclusive living is also to be considered in new forms of housing. Technical aids are meant to help people with disabilities live independently in familiar surroundings into old age. The CDU wants to add customizable options to existing services. Outpatient assistance and special housing forms are to be aligned more closely with the local neighborhood and its living conditions.