Fight for living space: Hamburg's building permits remain behind expectations

in Hamburg, a total of 6,710 new apartments were approved in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of almost 25 percent compared to 2023 when only 5,404 apartments were approved. However, this result shows a discrepancy to the originally intended 10,000 permits that the BFW Landesverband Nord had wanted. Kay Brahmst, the CEO of the BFW, was concerned about the high construction costs that many projects prevent and sees in the current situation a worrying development in freely financed housing construction.

However, the increase in publicly funded apartments is to be raised positively: In 2024, 3,092 permits were granted, which has been the highest number of approved social housing in five years. In total, almost half of the approved apartments in Hamburg in 2024 had public funding. This has led to a total number of 138,932 apartments approved since 2011, of which 40,539 innovations in the area of social housing are eliminated.

structural challenges in housing construction

Despite the increase in the total number of approved residential units, a structural problem in housing is revealed in Hamburg. According to the BFW, there are considerable differences between the requirements and the actual implementation. This is mainly due to the increasing material and wage costs that developers cause to react hesitantly to new projects. The BFW Nort helps to manage around 180,000 apartments in northern Germany and creates more than 60 percent of the new building volume in Hamburg.

The approved residential units 2024 are distributed to the following districts: Hamburg-Mitte (1,274), Altona (893), Eimsbüttel (605), Hamburg-Nord (1,179), Wandsbek (1,952), Bergedorf (194), Harburg (544) and in reservations (69).

prospects and developments

The BFW will present a new tree monitoring on February 20, 2025, which could provide further information on the market development. In addition, possible solutions are discussed on the same day on the same day in order to address the continued shortage of rental apartments in the middle price segment. However, experts also see bright spots through new construction processes and digitization in the planning process, which gives hope for a trend reversal in the corresponding segment.

In summary, it can be seen that Hamburg faces challenges in housing construction, but has positive developments in the field of social housing and an increase in the overall permits.