This week, numerous media are reporting on Federal Construction Minister Verena Hubertz’s appearance at Germany’s leading real estate trade fair, Expo Real, in Munich, the parliamentary process for passing the ‘construction turbo’ bill, and reactions to it from the real estate industry. According to ‘Immobilien Zeitung’, the minister promised during her visit to the fair to engage in dialogue with local authorities on implementation as soon as the ‘construction turbo’ became law. The dialogue is intended to make it easier for the responsible parties at the city and municipal level to apply the new regulations. In addition, a draft bill for the announced amendment to the Building Code is to be available at the beginning of 2026.
Representatives of the real estate industry showed mixed reactions to the minister’s comments, with some expressing agreement and others scepticism. The Handelsblatt newspaper wrote that the audience at the trade fair responded with ‘restrained applause at best’. Jens Tolckmitt, CEO of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks, is quoted as saying that the ‘game changer’ is still missing, especially in the housing market. According to a report in the Tagesschau news programme, Axel Gedaschko, President of the GdW Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen e. V. (Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies), also expressed scepticism. The ‘construction turbo’ is not a real turbo. If anything, it is a ‘building land turbo’, as it has so far only ensured faster designation of land. However, this does not mean that anything has actually been built; what is needed is real acceleration through digital and more efficient processes, less bureaucracy and binding timetables. Gedaschko is therefore calling for housing to be classified as a ‘matter of overriding public interest’ and given the same priority in municipal decision-making processes as is already the case for the construction of wind turbines.
According to Tagesschau, Matthias Günther, managing director of the Pestel Institute, suggested reforms to tenancy law. Many older people are reluctant to rent out their properties because they fear legal problems. It should therefore be easier for owners to get rid of ‘rent dodgers’, for example.
“The “construction turbo” is urgently needed, but it can only be a first step. If the leeway and simplifications created by it are not fully exploited by local authorities and bureaucratic regulations are not consistently streamlined, the hoped-for effect threatens to fizzle out. That is why we finally need the long-awaited amendment to the BauGB (German Building Code) and a reduction in bureaucracy in all regulations relevant to construction,” says Jacopo Mingazzini, CEO of The Grounds.
