The demand for affordable housing in Aachen has been enormous for years - and continues to grow. That is why the city of Aachen is now taking a decisive step towards strengthening affordable housing: on Wednesday, June 25, the main committee decided by a large majority to implement a two-pillar model that is intended to sustainably improve the municipal ability to control the housing market. The plan is to strengthen gewoge AG in coordination with the other shareholders in order to expand new construction activities and to establish a municipal GmbH & Co. KG, which will focus on the refurbishment and redensification of the municipal housing stock. The aim is to effectively meet the growing demand for housing and to secure more affordable housing in Aachen in the long term.

Affordable housing remains one of the key challenges

In the past ten years, the population has grown by more than 13,000 people to almost 263,000, including over 60,000 students. Over 58 percent of Aachen residents live in single-person households - and the trend is rising.

The current stock of 143,000 apartments is not sufficient for this. According to the housing demand forecast, around 6,920 additional residential units will be needed by 2039. At the same time, the proportion of publicly subsidized and therefore rent-controlled apartments has been falling continuously for years - a trend that will continue in the future.

The approximately 7,800 municipal apartments currently owned by the City of Aachen and gewoge AG account for only 6.4% of Aachen's total housing stock and are not sufficient to ensure the necessary control of the housing market. In addition, there is an increasing need for (energy-related) refurbishment in the municipal apartments, which cannot be effectively resolved in the existing structures. The consequence, according to Thomas Hissel, the councillor responsible for housing, social affairs and the economy: "If we do nothing, the gap between supply and demand will continue to grow and rents will continue to rise. Therefore, doing nothing was not an option for us."

Two-pillar model for greater capacity to act

Consequently, as part of the implementation of a council motion to "increase municipal housing construction activities" by the Green and SPD parliamentary groups, the administration submitted a draft decision to the Housing and Real Estate Committee and the Main Committee. The main committee decided by a large majority to significantly strengthen the municipal hand in Aachen's housing market by establishing a two-pillar model. This model consists of:

• Strengthening gewoge AG: In coordination with the other shareholders, gewoge AG is to be jointly strengthened in order to be able to expand the construction of affordable housing.

• The establishment of a new municipal company: In addition, a municipal GmbH & Co. KG, which will focus primarily on energy-efficient refurbishment and redensification of existing buildings.

The aim is to permanently and structurally expand the city's scope for action in order to ensure socially balanced housing development in the future.

Christoph Kemperdick, Head of the Real Estate Management Department of the City of Aachen, is delighted with this decision: "With the 2-pillar model, we can now not only significantly increase the stock of affordable housing in Aachen, but are also in a position to expand our municipal housing stock and make it fit for the future."