The Conference of Building Ministers (BMK) convened under the leadership of Christian Gaebler, Berlin's Senator for Urban Development, Building, and Housing. The meeting of the 16 ministers and senators responsible for urban development, building, and housing in the Red City Hall focused on optimising the framework conditions for affordable construction and housing, as well as on future-proofing housing and urban development.
Federal Minister for Construction Verena Hubertz, Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig, and representatives from the Federal Ministry of Defence also participated in the deliberations. The conference's discussions and resolutions covered several key areas aimed at a structural improvement of the current situation.
A central theme was ensuring affordable housing. The BMK emphasised the need for reliable support and robust tenant protection. To this end, housing benefit (Wohngeld) is to be maintained and sustainably structured as crucial aid. In parallel, it is planned to close existing gaps in tenant protection and effectively combat exploitative rents. Karen Pein, Senator for Urban Development and Housing of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and spokesperson for the A-Länder, highlighted the social significance of housing benefit, which supports low-income households in covering their housing costs. She expressed criticism of planned federal cuts that could exclude over 380,000 households from receiving housing benefit and called for a structure that fulfils the social function of housing benefit.
To simplify and reduce costs in construction, the BMK called for the revision and further development of cost-increasing standards and norms. A common position on utilising simplification and deregulation potentials in housing construction at EU level was adopted. A crucial step in this context was the signing of the federal-state agreement on the joint platform "Cost-Reduced Construction". This platform aims to increase the visibility of lighthouse projects in this area and make best practice examples accessible nationwide. Pein emphasised that approaches such as the Hamburg Standard, which enable simpler, faster, and more cost-effective construction, should now be made usable throughout Germany.
The conference also focused on the future-proof design of cities by promoting innovation, digitisation, and climate adaptation. The BMK intends to leverage the possibilities of new technologies, especially the legally compliant use of artificial intelligence in urban land-use planning, to accelerate and optimise planning processes. Christian Gaebler stated that a concrete mandate for examination has been formulated for the federal government in this regard. At the same time, energy-efficient renovation, heat protection, and climate adaptation are to be promoted with reliable framework conditions and sufficient financial resources.
- —Further development and revision of cost-increasing building standards.
- —Implementation of the "Cost-Reduced Construction" platform to pool expertise.
- —Legally compliant use of artificial intelligence in urban land-use planning.
- —Promotion of energy-efficient renovation, heat protection, and climate adaptation.
The BMK also advocated linking urban development funding with research funds from the Federal Ministry for Construction to create scope for innovative projects and pilot schemes. Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Home Affairs, Municipalities, Building, and Digitisation of North Rhine-Westphalia and spokesperson for the B-Länder, highlighted the urgency of climate adaptation. She referred to the "Cooles Land" resolution and the demand for a special federal programme of 500 million EUR to implement measures such as more shade, trees, and water, as well as cool public spaces by summer 2027. The goal is holistic climate change adaptation, making cities heat-resistant and resilient to heavy rainfall.
Christian Gaebler summarised that the resolutions on tenant protection, housing benefit, cost-reduced construction, and energy-efficient renovation represent important policy decisions to protect people from rising housing costs in economically challenging times, while simultaneously creating the conditions for more and more affordable housing construction.
