There is a shortage of around 2.2 million age-appropriate apartments in Germany. According to consistent media reports, this is the result of a study conducted by the Pestel Institute on behalf of the Bundesverband Deutscher Baustoff-Fachhandel. Only around 600,000 of the 2.8 million senior households are currently age-appropriate. However, the institute predicts that at least 3.3 million age-appropriate homes will be needed by 2040. The situation will also be exacerbated by other aspects.
One of these aspects is that there is currently a lack of a sufficient number of affordable apartments. In addition, pensioners often do not have enough money to modernize their homes in an age-appropriate way. Rising rents and property prices can also lead to more and more older people losing their rented accommodation and even becoming homeless. The authors of the study therefore call for more state support for age-appropriate home renovations, among other things.
According to the authors of the study, the construction of new apartments suitable for senior citizens must also be subsidized. This is because without subsidies, the majority of senior citizens would not be able to afford to buy or rent new senior-friendly apartments. If senior citizens could afford to move into such apartments, their old apartments or houses would become available. Families, for example, could move into these. The full study is available free of charge at https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/studie-wohnen-im-alter-101.pdf
Sources and further information: tagesschau.de/focus.de
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