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POLITICS
past mistakes,” says the faction spokes-
man for construction issues in reference
to the bloated administrative structures
and lack of transparency. The idea behind
this is to offer tax subsidies in exchange
for affordable housing, combined with a
permanent commitment. In detail, the
Greens are considering tax credits as well
as partial tax exemptions, for example in
the real estate transfer tax. For the time
after 2019, when the budget item social
housing expires, Kühn imagines a coop-
eration between the federal government
and the states for this time, in which the
federal government grants tax breaks and
the states guarantee social housing.
To accelerate building processes, Kühn
is pushing ahead with standardization as
well as a transregional model building
lease and thus appeal to average wage
earners, says the spokeswoman.
NEW PUBLIC WELFARE FOCUS
The SPD
and Green Party are moving between
these poles. “We don’t think a tax subsidy
makes much sense because then housing
will be built in the wrong place,” explains
SPD construction spokesman, Michael
Groß. He represents the electoral district
of Recklinghausen in the Ruhr region in
the Bundestag – he is familiar with phases
of economic fluctuation. For this reason,
he also advocates a model in which the
state sets up a secure framework for the
living situation of its citizens: Groß would
like to see “housing as a community task,”
with a federal government acting as the
decision-maker in housing policy. Focus
must shift from subsidizing individuals to
subsidizing construction; the basis for this
is adequate staff in federal and municipal
authorities to speed up processes.
Prospective home owners should be
supported with investment subsidies. He
only sees tax incentives in slightly higher
straight-line depreciation. On the ques-
tion of “private or state-owned,” the SPD
faction is working towards a new “public
welfare focus,” which is intended to reward
everyone involved in affordable housing in
the district,” Groß explains.
His colleague from the Green Party,
Chris Kühn, sounds quite similar. “We
want a new kind of charitable housing
that follows the principles applied in
Germany until 1989 as well as the strat-
egies used in Austria, without repeating
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