Remscheid fights against housing shortage: new vacancy detector started!

The city of Remscheid has introduced a new vacancy detector to support citizens in finding an apartment. According to rp-online.de , the citizens can enter uninhabited apartments in order to reach landlords and other informants. Carsten Thies, the specialist service manager social and living, describes the project as a "test balloon" for analyzing the housing market.

According to current reports from the building department, the vacancy rate in Remscheid is over 6%, based on surveys by the municipal utility company over inactive electricity meters. There is a high demand for cheap apartments, especially for small apartments and large apartments for families. The city plan also increasingly advertises the vacancy detector in order to receive more feedback. The aim is to talk to landlords in order to identify and reduce obstacles to the residential intermediary.

Situation of the empty apartments in Remscheid

like rga.de empty. This corresponds to a vacancy rate of around 6.5 percent of the total housing stock, which is about twice as much as is required for a functioning housing market. The exact reasons for the vacancy are unclear, but a modernization backlog is suspected, especially for small landlords and an older building stock.

The city pursues the goal of determining the background of the vacancy with the vacancy detector and can contact owners using the reports. Support can be offered in placement to tenants or about information on financing offers for modernizations. Thies emphasizes that the city will not contact any potential tenants in the registered apartments.

Colin Cyrus, the group manager of the left, welcomed the initiative and described the current living situation as precarious. He demands more activity from the city to move the landlord to provide living space and suggests establishing his own support programs in order to motivate investors and owners to create new living space. An example of such a measure is the purchase of an empty building complex on the ring road, which is to be prepared for the accommodation of refugees.