MANY apartments in Germany are empty
In spite of the high housing demand, there are many vacant apartments in Germany. According to Microcensus data, there were approximately 1.9 million vacant apartments as of May 15, 2022, for various reasons. This corresponds to a vacancy rate of 4.3 percent, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Over half of the real estate (55 percent) had not been inhabited for more than a year.
Only about a third of the vacant apartments (38 percent) were available for occupancy within the next three months. In the city-states of Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin, the respective shares of these quickly available apartments were significantly higher, at 52 to 61 percent. For nearly every fourth vacant apartment (24 percent), renovations or construction work were planned. A demolition was only planned for four percent of the vacant apartments. Seven percent were intended to be sold or used by the owners themselves. For every fifth vacant apartment, "other reasons" were given.
The data comes from the Microcensus 2022, which is based on official registers and the survey of twelve percent of the population on various topic areas. According to the Federal Office, around 23 million property owners provided information on their real estate during the building and housing census, as did around 8,000 housing companies.
Despite the significant housing demand in Germany, many potential renters are overlooked due to the existence of over 1.9 million vacant apartments as of May 15, 2022. Contrary to expectations, a large portion of these vacant apartments in Germany remain unoccupied, with over 55% being empty for over a year.
