Grüne on housing

The Greens want to reinstate the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) and the ordinance capping rent increases in Schleswig-Holstein. The aim is to secure affordable housing in the long term. Housing subsidy programs are to continue and grow with federal money.

Rents are high in many places. The Greens want to bring back the rent brake. This is a rule that limits rents in new leases. Rent increases will also be limited more strictly again. The state will keep paying for affordable housing.

The platform justifies the demand with rising prices for rents and home ownership across Germany. Besides the two rent rules, the existing housing subsidy programs are to continue. They are to be topped up with federal funds, as announced in the federal coalition agreement. The funding is to be consistent with climate targets.

The Greens want a housing protection law for the state. It is meant to curb speculation with housing, prevent misuse of homes through penalties, and regulate vacation rentals. Vacancy is also to be limited in time.

The Greens want a new law to protect housing. Homes should be used for living. People who use them for other things will face penalties. There will be rules for vacation rentals. Homes will not be allowed to stay empty for long.

The law is meant to be the legal basis for a social housing policy and to preserve housing. It is to include penalties for misuse of homes and to regulate rentals to tourists. Concepts for infill development and renovation are to be promoted as well. A maximum vacancy period is to apply to rental residential properties. Municipalities are to be supported in charging vacancy levies.

The Greens want to set up a state-owned housing company to boost social housing construction. It is to build affordable, climate-friendly homes and also buy and renovate existing homes and rent them out cheaply.

The state will set up its own company to build housing. The company will build affordable homes. It will also buy and repair homes. Then it will rent them out at low prices. The homes will be good for the climate.

The company is also to work together with municipalities and their housing companies. In addition, a state-level competence center is planned. It is to advise and support municipalities that want to found their own housing companies or cooperatives.

The Greens want to develop the state's land fund further and give it more money. Municipalities are to use it to buy land and buildings for social and cooperative housing. Preemption rights are to be used actively.

Towns will find it easier to buy land and buildings. A land fund will get more money for this. A fund is a pot of money for a set purpose. This will create affordable homes owned by the town. Rents will stay low for good.

The fund is to receive an amount comparable to the planned home-buyer grant program. Municipalities are to be able to contribute start-up capital and use rental income for new projects in the fund instead of spending it on mandatory tasks. According to the platform, the goal is a level playing field between municipalities and private investors. The state intends to exercise its preemption rights and to support municipalities, including heavily indebted ones, with grants to do the same.

The Greens want to fight discrimination in the housing search through a round table. Homeless people are to be better protected, including through Housing First projects and reliable access to social benefits.

Some people struggle to find a home because others treat them unfairly. The Greens want to talk about this with landlords, tenants and associations. People without a home will get more protection. They will get a home first. This is called Housing First.

The round table is to include the housing industry, landlord, tenant and welfare associations, and self-help organizations. The platform sees discrimination as one cause of poor social mixing and homelessness. Homeless people are to be better protected in public spaces. Together with authorities and associations, the party wants to make sure that people who are homeless or at risk actually receive the benefits they are entitled to.

The Greens want to create more dormitory places and open student housing to trainees. For older people, suitable housing projects and home swaps are to be supported so that housing fits people's stage of life.

Students and trainees should be able to live more cheaply. There will be more places in dormitories. Older people should find suitable homes in their neighborhood. People should be able to swap homes more easily. The state will provide money for this.

The platform points to more than 350 new dormitory places in Kiel and Flensburg and 539 more in planning; this course is to continue. The federal plans for student and trainee housing and for a new nonprofit housing status are welcomed. Multigenerational houses, projects for seniors, communal living and modular construction are to be supported. A funding program for swap and conversion structures is to be set up with cooperatives and social organizations.

The Greens want infill development and multistory building to come before new land is designated for construction. They also back tiny house projects and want to look into easing building rules for them.

The Greens want to save land when building. Building should happen inside towns first. Only then should new land be used. Very small houses should also be possible. They are called tiny houses.

The priority for infill development in the state building code is to continue. Municipalities are to get help in applying the tools of the federal Baulandmobilisierungsgesetz (building land mobilization act). Tiny houses are to be usable for permanent living and for other purposes such as co-working, social projects or small cultural spaces. The platform points to the experimentation clause added to the state planning law in 2020, which lets municipalities run innovative settlement projects.

The Greens want a state program that gives a 10,000 euro grant for the first purchase or construction of an owner-occupied home. It is meant for people with low and middle incomes. The platform prefers this to an across-the-board cut in the real estate transfer tax.

People who buy their first home to live in will get 10,000 euros. This only applies to people with low or middle incomes. Families with children have a higher income limit. The Greens think this is better than a lower tax on buying property.

The income limit is 50,000 euros in taxable annual income for single people and 75,000 euros for couples. The limit rises by 15,000 euros for each child in the household. According to the platform, this causes no revenue losses for municipalities and every property gets the same amount. The flat amount is meant to favor economical building rather than large, expensive houses.

The Greens want to launch additional funding programs for accessible homes and to continue the accessibility fund. Inclusive living is to get more weight in housing projects so that people with disabilities and older people can live independently.

People with disabilities and older people should be able to live in their own homes. This requires homes without barriers. The Greens want to provide more money for this. Shared living for people with and without disabilities will also be supported.

The accessibility fund, in place since 2019, is to support further projects in public spaces. The new programs are to complement the KfW (federal development bank) program because, according to the platform, demand keeps growing. Dedicated funding conditions are to be developed for inclusive living. Students or trainees are to be able to train as assistants and pay low rent in inclusive shared apartments in return.

The Greens want everything needed for daily life in cities to be reachable within fifteen minutes. Urban planning is to focus more on children, older people and people with disabilities and to promote socially mixed neighborhoods.

In a city, everything important should be 15 minutes away. For example shops, doctors and childcare. Paths should be safe and free of obstacles. Parks, beaches and lakes should be open to everyone.

Municipalities, acting on their own responsibility, are to create more pedestrian zones, public restrooms, baby-changing rooms and seating, and fix sidewalks that are too narrow or curbs that are too high. Under the heading of environmental justice, recreation areas are to be open to all and affordable housing is to be built in attractive locations too. The Greens want to work for socially mixed districts, lower environmental burdens and enforcement of protection standards. Integrated village and urban development concepts with resident participation are to receive expert support.

The Greens want to develop city centers into places for living and culture and to set up a roundtable for this. Its results are to feed into an updated state urban development program.

Many city centers are losing shops and visitors. The Greens want to talk about this with many people involved. There should be a roundtable for it. Local people should have a say.

The platform describes the retreat of large department stores, expensive housing, a lack of space for small shops and culture, and car-oriented traffic planning. City centers are to return to a stronger mix of uses. Citizens are to be involved in projects and decisions, with dedicated structures created for this. The urban development program is to continue and be judged more by how much it advances the transformation of cities.

The Greens want to create new tools in state law that let municipalities act against the conversion of permanent homes into vacation rentals. Popular tourist destinations should also have enough affordable housing, and locals should not be pushed out.

In tourist towns, many homes become vacation rentals. Then local people cannot find homes. The Greens want new state rules. With these rules, towns can protect homes better.

The program points to the effects of such conversions on the housing market and on local residents. Its stated goal is enough affordable housing even in tourist destinations. Volunteer fire departments, clubs and the social and cultural structures of local residents are to be preserved.