Parliamentary groups see need for action in housing construction

According to all parliamentary groups in the state parliament, Saxony needs more housing construction. The parliamentarians were also largely in agreement during a debate on the demand for less bureaucracy for new construction. However, the extent of the problem was assessed differently. While the Left Party denounced usurious rents, Regina Kraushaar (CDU), the regional development minister responsible for housing, put the extent of the problem into perspective.

Left: Many new builds are unaffordable

"Housing has become a poverty risk. In Dresden and Leipzig, large parts of the population have to spend more than 30 percent and even up to 40 percent of their small income on rent," said Left Party MP Juliane Nagel. Many new buildings are unaffordable, and ancillary costs are becoming a second rent. "Large housing companies are acting ever more brazenly: people are being deprived of their homes because they stand in the way of the pursuit of profit."

Affordable housing not a social issue for most Saxons

"Affordable housing is not a social issue for most Saxons at the moment," Kraushaar disagreed. A good third of households live in property. 40 percent of tenant households live in municipal or cooperative apartments with mostly socially oriented rents. In a ranking of the rent levels of all 400 or so German districts and independent cities, the last eight places were all occupied by districts in Saxony.

Leftists want better support for housing

The debate was requested by the Left Party. They want to boost social housing construction by taking rising construction prices and interest rates into account in the funding. This would also be an economic stimulus program for the construction industry, said Nagel. Subsidized housing should no longer be lost to the free market. We need to talk about how to build more cheaply without sacrificing the necessary standards,

CDU sees high construction prices as a brake on new construction

Only an intensification of housing construction will solve the problem and reduce rents, emphasized CDU MP Ingo Flemming. The high construction costs had led to a slowdown in new construction. The aim is to reduce high standards and review the consequences of norms. "Above all, we are committed to improving the framework conditions for housing construction."

AfD: Deportation of asylum seekers creates living space

AfD MP Holger Hentschel also spoke out in favor of better support for home ownership and the reduction of bureaucratic regulations. He also described the effects of "rampant migration" on the housing market. The deportation of asylum seekers creates living space in urban areas. His parliamentary group colleague Romy Penz called for an end to "climate madness" in housing construction.