The significant shortage of housing is leading to a tight and competitive housing market in many cities across Germany. As project developers, we view providing housing through our projects as an urgent social responsibility. 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 Bauturbo?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: It is well knownthat we have a problem with housing availability 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. We are also hearing this reflected back to us by 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 , that’s actually surprising. As early as the 1990s, very large housing stocks that had once been municipally owned were privatized. Since then, it has taken a relatively 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 certainly 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 already been set in previous years. Nevertheless, we note that housing has not been—and is not being—built to the extent that was intended. Year after year, we have fallen short of the stated goals.
Why is that?
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: This is due to a wide variety of factors. On the one hand, there are the 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, is speed 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 for me, the other major issue is the various stages of the planning approval process. As the person in charge of neighborhood development at Landmarken, I’m confronted with this in my daily work. And I’ve been very encouraged 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 the local governments been made aware 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 examine what needs to be examined. That’s also in the client’s best interest. But I don’t believe that 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 will be available during this period. We have to finance the property for this period, and at significantly higher costs. The days of 1 percent interest rates are over—that’s common knowledge. And ultimately, that gets passed on to rents. The longer a project is stalled, the more rents rise. After all, as a business, we have to ensure we turn a profit in the end; otherwise, we won’t survive in the long run. In this respect, long approval processes contribute significantly to the fact that, on the one hand, apartments are completed much later than they could be, and on the other hand, rents rise. If I manage it wisely, 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 indicates a massive imbalance.
“We’ve noticed that some municipalities are definitely eager to work with us to try out an approach that may be unfamiliar to them—especially if it ultimately helps address a social problem. 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 turbo." 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 of materials right away: How much quartz sand do we have left to make 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’s why, as Landmarken, we develop neighborhoods and urban building blocks primarily in areas where we’re 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 settings. This can also be in smaller cities, such as Würselen, where we’re 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 pre-sealing. In areas where there used to be polluting businesses, our redevelopment efforts often create measurable added value—not only in a social sense but also in an ecological one—for example, through greening, creating open pathways, and other measures. The situation is similar at the Luisenhöfe and Hutchinson in Aachen, in our residential projects in Düsseldorf, on Hüttenstraße in Bochum, and at Moringa, which is being built 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 “gray 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’t be repurposed. That’s why, whenever possible, we’re building multi-story parking garages in our neighborhoods as mobility hubs that serve various modes of transportation. If we do achieve a measurable mobility transition in 30 years, we can then tear them down or remodel them for other uses.
Are there already Landmarken neighborhoods that we are implementing through an expedited process, or where implementation using the "construction turbo" approach 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’re 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, we could develop mixed-use neighborhoods here with a strong focus on housing.
A good example is Mindener Straße in Düsseldorf. The zoning plan designates this area as a commercial zone. Using the options the Building Code already offered us even before the “construction accelerator,” we managed to establish a legal basis within a very short time—less than a year—so that we can now quickly begin building apartments. The basis for this is Section 31(3), which allows us to implement the expedited procedure for inner-city development. I consider this a major success—for us, but also for the city of Düsseldorf, the neighborhood, and the people who will live there in the future.
So there are examples that show that speeding up planning permit procedures can work.
Dr. Friederike Fugmann: We’ve at least noticed that some municipalities are definitely willing to work with us to try out an approach that may be unfamiliar to them—especially if it ultimately helps address a social problem. And that’s why I’m grateful for this opportunity, for now.
The so-called “Bau-Turbo” (officially Section 246e of the German Building Code (BauGB)) is a temporary special provision in German building law that took effect on October 30, 2025. Its goal 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.
