Rents are also rising in the suburbs of Dresden and Leipzig

The Left Party in the Saxon state parliament is calling for significantly more efforts to ensure affordable housing in the state. "Above all, however, we must finally get to grips with social housing construction. As a left-wing parliamentary group, we are calling for the funding budget to be doubled to at least 250 million euros for the new double budget," explained Juliane Nagel, spokesperson for housing policy in the state parliamentary group. Rents are rising throughout Saxony, especially in the major cities and suburbs,

Rents are also rising in the suburbs of Leipzig and Dresden

According to Nagel, rent levels are still comparatively low in many districts, but not in Dresden and Leipzig. Housing is also becoming increasingly expensive in the neighboring districts. For example, the median asking rent in North Saxony has risen by almost nine percent to 6.67 euros per square meter, in the district of Leipzig by more than eight percent to 6.50 euros and in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge by almost five percent to 6.78 euros. The median is the value that lies exactly in the middle of a data series.

The rising rents become even clearer if we take 2020 as a basis. At that time, the asking rent - the rent at which apartments are offered in advertisements - in North Saxony was EUR 5.54 per square meter. In terms of 2023 prices, the increase is already 20.4 percent. In Leipzig, the increase in the same period was 18 percent and in the district of Leipzig 18.2 percent. Elsewhere, the increase was more moderate: 6.5 percent in Dresden and 6.7 percent in Chemnitz.

Single parents and single pensioners are the main victims

According to Nagel, rents must be set in relation to incomes, which are below average in many places in Saxony. Unfortunately, no current data on the rent burden is available. However, social reporting for Dresden and Leipzig shows that single parents, single people and pensioners in particular are subject to above-average burdens. In 2022, 15 percent of tenants in Leipzig would have had to spend more than 40 percent of their income on housing costs.

"Rents in Saxony are rising across the board, especially in Dresden and Leipzig. Not only are rents rising there, but also ancillary costs for energy, heating and waste collection," explained Nagel. It is not surprising that the rise in rents has reached the suburbs. "As the Left, we are fighting for effective instruments to curb the rise in rents and make housing affordable." It should be examined whether the construction of social housing should also be promoted in the surrounding areas of large cities in future.

Left: Conversion of rental apartments into owner-occupied apartments must be restricted

Nagel sees a major task for the new state government: "It must finally give large cities the opportunity to restrict the conversion of rental apartments into owner-occupied apartments. Construction Minister Thomas Schmidt (CDU) is preventing this despite the great need." In addition, the cap on rent increases must be further limited from the regular 20 percent over three years to 15 percent. The corresponding regulation for Dresden and Leipzig expires on June 30, 2025.