SPD on housing

The SPD wants to preserve and create affordable rental and owner-occupied housing for families in cities and rural areas. Social housing construction is to move faster, and municipalities should be able to sell building land to families at lower prices without financial disadvantage.

Families should be able to afford homes. This applies to renting and owning. The SPD wants to build social housing faster. Towns should be able to sell building land to families more cheaply. The state pays the towns the missing money.

The basis for calculating eligibility in the social housing program is to be changed so that low-income families are also included. The state would reimburse municipalities for revenue lost through discounted building land. In larger cities, developers could also receive such land if they commit to social criteria over the long term. Infill construction and renovations in town centers are to receive targeted funding.

The SPD wants to promote municipal and social housing construction and create a rent-to-own program for families without savings for a down payment. Its goals are affordable housing in the centers, fewer vacancies in rural areas, and a higher homeownership rate.

The SPD wants more affordable homes. It wants to fund the building of social housing. Families with little money should be able to rent a home and own it later. This is called rent-to-own. Towns should find it easier to buy land for building.

Under rent-to-own, the state development corporation, for example, could build state-financed homes and offer them to young families; this is also meant to help build wealth. Funding for housing companies is to be predictable for years ahead. New construction is to speed up through much simpler planning procedures and standards, with the state providing grants and loans. Publicly owned housing companies are to build homes themselves. The state wants to support municipal land funds that let municipalities buy land long-term for housing and infrastructure.

The SPD wants existing buildings to be used and renovated before anything new is built. According to the platform, this saves resources and keeps established settlements intact. Municipal housing is to remain publicly owned.

The SPD wants to use old buildings first. New buildings should come only when no empty ones are left. This saves materials and land. Housing owned by towns should not be sold.

Municipalities would be allowed to earmark rental income for renovating their own properties or for buying derelict and vacant buildings and unused land. Even municipalities under a budget consolidation plan are to keep their housing. In rural areas, incentives for buying existing homes are planned, and village and town centers are to be strengthened before new building areas are designated. A practical concept for reviving unused sites and dealing with derelict properties is also planned. In addition, the SPD wants to help municipalities with family-friendly planning based on short distances and with family housing in city centers.

The SPD wants to bring together people with more living space than they need and people who need more. Advice, support and a moving bonus are meant to make swapping apartments and houses easier.

Some people have too much space at home. Others need more space. The SPD wants them to be able to swap. There should be advice and money for moving.

The platform argues that housing needs change over the course of a lifetime. Active advice and incentives are to be offered wherever swaps are needed. The SPD expects swaps to be more widely used in Thuringia than in densely populated areas. A bonus paid out for moving is meant to lower the barriers further.

The SPD wants to restore non-profit housing status (Wohngemeinnützigkeit) for municipal housing companies and cooperatives. This is meant to give broad parts of the population access to affordable housing again.

The SPD wants to bring back non-profit status for housing. This means: housing companies owned by towns and cooperatives limit their profits. In return they count as non-profit. This should help more people find an affordable home.

Non-profit housing status means that housing providers receive advantages in return for accepting social obligations. As an example of when the status could be granted, the platform names a commitment by municipal companies or cooperatives to cap their profits. According to the SPD, the goal is better access to affordable housing.

The SPD wants to extend the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) to more cases and remove its expiration date. In regions with tight housing markets, the cap on rent increases in existing leases is to be applied in a more targeted way.

The SPD wants stronger limits on rents. The rent brake should apply in more cases. It should no longer have an end date. Where housing is scarce, rents in old leases should rise more slowly.

The rent brake limits rents in new leases in areas where housing is scarce and has so far been time-limited. The cap on increases restricts how much rent may rise in ongoing leases. The state wants to use this tool in a more targeted way in tight markets. The SPD says it will push for expanding the rent brake and making it permanent.

The SPD wants to add state money to federal funds for social housing and make more low- and middle-income households eligible. Funding for accessible housing is to become permanent. Homelessness is to be overcome by 2030 if possible.

The SPD wants to spend more money on social housing. More people with low or middle incomes should be allowed to live there. There should also be lasting money for homes without barriers. By 2030, as few people as possible should be homeless.

Funding for social housing is to focus mainly on areas with tight housing markets. Funding for accessible housing is to be adequately financed, tied to rent controls and opened to new construction as well. Thuringia is to take part in the National Action Plan against Homelessness together with the federal government and municipalities.

The SPD wants greater use of wood and other alternative building materials, especially in public construction. Serial and modular building is meant to ensure quality and curb rising construction costs. More building material is to be recycled.

The SPD wants more building with wood, clay and straw. This applies especially to public buildings. Houses should more often be built from ready-made parts. This should lower costs. Building materials should be reused more often.

Wood is to become a standard material in new construction and renovation; the platform says the building code has already been simplified for this. For serial construction, the focus is on space-saving concepts such as combining multi-story buildings with compact row houses. Research on substitute materials and recycling is to receive more funding. The recycling rate for gypsum products in particular is to rise significantly.

The SPD wants to create a fund of 50 million euros for energy-efficient building renovation. It is meant to give households with low incomes and little equity access to affordable grants and loans, which they repay from the operating costs they save.

The SPD wants to set up a pot of money with 50 million euros. It should help people with little money renovate their homes. After the renovation they need less energy. They pay back the help with the money they save.

The fund is to be called "Eigenkapital energetische Gebäudesanierung" (equity for energy-efficient building renovation) and work as a revolving fund, meaning repaid money becomes available for new renovations. Stretching out repayment is meant to ensure money stays available over time. Eligibility is to follow existing income limits used by the states, for example under Thuringia's housing subsidy law. The SPD wants to keep red tape low this way.