Housing market - Muniplities are offering incentives for housing exchange
Multiple Communes in the Southwest are offering incentives to encourage citizens to move into smaller apartments - and thus distribute housing more efficiently. Mannheim, with approximately 325,000 inhabitants, will pay up to 5,000 Euro for a move into a smaller apartment starting from next year.
"We want families to find a suitable housing and stay in Mannheim," said the mayor for urban development, Ralf Eisenhauer. The background is, among other things, an increasing demand for larger apartments for families.
The municipal housing company in the 50,000-inhabitant city of Lörrach near the Swiss border has been paying a relocation bonus for moving into a smaller apartment since 1990 - currently 2,500 Euro. In the 1990s, they reportedly paid out up to 30 bonuses per year. According to Business Manager Thomas Nostadt, it was a maximum of five per year in recent years.
Freiburg, with over 230,000 inhabitants, has paid a relocation allowance of 2,000 Euro since 2021 - if two parties exchange their city-owned apartments through the municipal housing exchange platform. The party receiving the money must move from a three-room apartment into a smaller one. This bonus has been paid out twelve times, according to city officials.
The city administration in Heidelberg plans to present a program to the city council at the end of the year to distribute housing more effectively, according to a spokesperson. The program would provide money for the move into a smaller apartment for those wanting to leave oversized publicly subsidized apartments.
- Baden-Württemberg, known for its progressive housing policy, is also considering implementing similar incentives to encourage downsizing in larger apartments.
- The premium offered by Mannheim for moving into a smaller apartment is expected to have a significant impact on the city's housing market, potentially influencing the apartment exchange trend in the Southwest of Germany.
- With the commune of Lörrach leading the way since 1990, the popularity of premiums for moving into smaller apartments in Germany's housing market has been gaining traction, now even extending to larger cities like Mannheim.
- The success of apartment exchange programs in Mannheim and Freiburg has sparked interest in other communes in the Southwest of Germany, as they look to improve housing distribution and ease the pressure on the premium housing market.
- The ongoing housing policy reforms in Germany, with premiums and incentives for moving into smaller apartments, could potentially influence the premium housing market across Europe, encouraging a more efficient housing distribution.
