The severe shortage of housing has led to a tight and competitive housing market in many German cities. As project developers, we view it as an urgent social responsibility to provide housing through our projects. Our Head of Neighborhood Development is working to find ways to deliver quality housing more quickly with the help of the “Bau-Turbo” initiative.
Why do we need the construction accelerator?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: It is well knownthat we have a problem with housing provision in Germany. In fact, there is a significant housing shortage in many cities and, to some extent, in rural areas as well. This leads to a tight and competitive housing market. This is also the feedback we receive from local governments.
As project developers, we view the creation of housing as a very important and urgent social responsibility. This applies to a wide variety of housing types, but especially in the publicly subsidized sector. We want to make a contribution in all these areas and address this shortage through our projects.
There has been a housing shortage for many years. Now, policymakers have also recognized that it is a social issue.
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: Yes , it’s actually quite surprising. As early as the 1990s, very large housing stocks that had once been municipally owned were privatized. Since then, it has taken quite a long time for the issue to really enter the public discourse. It’s good that policymakers across a wide range of political parties are now taking ownership of this issue. People have recognized that we’re dealing with a societal problem here.
“I can build hundreds of apartments in a neighborhood within two years. But if it takes seven years just to get them approved, that clearly points to a massive imbalance.”
Dr. Friederike Fugmann, Head of Neighborhood Development at Landmarken
Is the construction boom already having an effect?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: At the federal level, this is certainly a major effort to make something happen. However, similar goals have been set in previous years. Nevertheless, we have observed that the number of housing units built has not yet reached the level that was intended. Year after year, we have fallen short of the stated targets.
Why is that?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: This is due to a wide variety of factors. On the one hand, there are major issues such as resource availability, construction costs, and so on. On the other hand, there are factors at the local level. These tend to involve approval timelines, project durations, and the length of time it takes to finalize zoning plans. These factors prevent us from building urgently needed housing as quickly as we should.
So, speed is the main problem?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: It is one of the main problems. But we also need to address construction costs, which have risen due to standards and regulations that have become extremely complex. Their number has increased dramatically over the past ten to 15 years. Construction costs, which have also risen sharply due to overregulation, have led to a situation where housing—especially affordable housing—is not being built in the quantities we need. But the other major issue for me is the various stages of the planning approval process. As the person in charge of neighborhood development at Landmarken, I am confronted with this in my daily work. And I was very pleased to see that the length of time it takes for zoning plan procedures in municipalities has been recognized as a massive problem at the federal level.
Have local governments taken note of this as well?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: I believe that this varies greatly from municipality to municipality. Of course, it also always depends on the project and its complexity. That makes sense. You have to investigate what needs to be investigated. That’s also in the client’s best interest. But I don’t think a zoning plan process necessarily has to take seven or eight years.
And during this time, nothing is happening on the property.
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: Above all, no housing is being made available during this period. We have to finance the property for this duration, and at significantly higher costs. The days of 1% interest rates are over; that is well known. And ultimately, that gets passed on to the rents. They rise the longer a project is delayed. Because as a company, we have to ensure that we remain profitable in the end; otherwise, we won’t survive in the long run. In that sense, long approval periods contribute significantly to the fact that, on the one hand, apartments are available much later than they could be, and on the other hand, rents rise. If I play my cards right, I can build hundreds of apartments in a neighborhood within two years. But if it takes me seven years just to get them approved, that already indicates a massive imbalance.
“We’ve noticed that some local governments are quite eager to work with us to try out an approach that may be unfamiliar to them—especially if it ultimately helps address a social issue. That’s why I’m grateful for this opportunity.”
Dr. Friederike Fugmann, Head of Neighborhood Development at Landmarken
You brought up another issue that probably can't be resolved with the "construction boost." That is the use of resources. How do we handle this in our own projects?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: When it comes to resource availability, many people naturally think first of materials: How much quartz sand do we have left to produce glass or cement? We need to use the resources we have on our planet wisely. That’s why, for example, we’re experimenting with the cradle-to-cradle principle in the Moringa project and trying to become more knowledgeable in this area.
Another very important resource that we also have only in limited quantities is soil. That is why, as Landmarken, we develop neighborhoods and urban building blocks primarily in areas where we are already operating within an existing built environment. Creating isolated, planning-disconnected island neighborhoods on greenfield sites on the outskirts of cities is not our vision of urban development. We operate in integrated urban locations. This can also be in smaller cities, such as Würselen, where we are creating a truly great urban building block with the Singer-Areal in the heart of the city.
The neighborhood is being built on a former industrial site.
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: Exactly . We develop neighborhoods like this one on sites with a high degree of soil sealing. In areas where polluting industries once operated, our redevelopment efforts often create measurable added value—not only in social terms but also in ecological terms—through measures such as greening, creating open pathways, and other initiatives. The situation is similar at the Luisenhöfe or Hutchinson in Aachen, at our residential projects in Düsseldorf, on Hüttenstraße in Bochum, and at Moringa, which is being developed on the former port site.
And do the projects, in turn, also benefit from the urban environment?
Yes, because the infrastructure is already in place. There’s already a public transit network, and we don’t have to build as many new roads. That also means we need fewer resources, for example, for parking spaces in underground garages. It’s crazy how much embodied energy goes into that. So much concrete in the ground for a single mode of transportation! Underground parking garages are spaces that, in the end, can no longer be repurposed. That’s why, in our neighborhoods—whenever possible—we’re building multi-story parking garages as mobility hubs that serve various modes of transportation. If we do see a measurable shift in mobility in 30 years, we can then tear them down or convert them for other uses.
Are there already any Landmarken neighborhoods that we are implementing through an expedited process, or where implementation using the "construction fast-track" is conceivable?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: We are currently conducting very specific assessments in various municipalities to determine whether and how we can utilize the new tools provided by the Building Code. With the amendments to Section 246e—which is the real “construction accelerator”—as well as Sections 31(3) and 34(3B), the legislature has given us three tools to expedite the creation of planning rights for housing. We are examining this in locations where planning permission may exist for commercial development, but for which there is no longer any need. In agreement with the municipalities, mixed-use neighborhoods with a strong residential focus could be developed here.
A good example is Mindener Straße in Düsseldorf. The zoning plan designates this area as a commercial zone. Using the options the Building Code offered us even before the “construction turbo,” we managed to establish a legal basis within a very short time—namely, less than a year—to now swiftly begin building apartments. The basis for this is Section 31(3), which allows us to implement the accelerated procedure for infill development. I consider this a very significant success—for us, but also for the city of Düsseldorf, the neighborhood, and the people who will live there in the future.
There are, therefore, examples that show that speeding up planning permission procedures can be effective.
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: We’ve noticed, at least, that some local governments are quite eager to work with us to try out an approach that may be unfamiliar to them. Especially if it ultimately helps address a social issue. And that’s why I’m grateful for this opportunity.
The so-called "Bau-Turbo" (officially Section 246e of the German Building Code) is a temporary special provision in German building law that took effect on October 30, 2025. Its aim is to accelerate the construction of more affordable housing by reducing administrative burdens. The Bau-Turbo regulation allows municipalities to deviate from existing building codes for affordable housing projects and to bypass lengthy zoning plan procedures. Among other things, the Bau-Turbo enables faster approval of residential buildings in already developed inner-city areas as well as the conversion of commercial spaces into housing.
