Germany's housing minister targets 2027 launch for federal housing company
The government would hold 51% and partners 49%. Hubertz also backs SPD leader Klingbeil: "We have a damned responsibility for this country."
Archive image · Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
German Construction Minister Verena Hubertz said the planned state-run housing company should start operating in 2027. In an interview with t-online, the Social Democrat said the concept would be presented this fall after coordinating it with the conservative coalition partners. She and SPD leader and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil had announced the idea in the spring. The federal government would hold 51%, with the remaining 49% held by outside partners from the private sector or municipal and state-owned housing companies.
Hubertz promised a lean structure rather than a new agency, and said the company would not set up its own construction firm. Instead it would work with market partners and use Germany's AAA credit rating to secure cheap financing. She rejected expropriating housing companies, saying it would not create a single apartment. The government is drafting an investment protection law led by the Interior Ministry.
After the resignation of SPD co-leader Bärbel Bas, Hubertz said Klingbeil should stay on as party chair, praising him for quietly presenting a suitable successor. A Civey poll for the Funke media group found only 21% of respondents consider Klingbeil suitable, while 65% do not.