The German Tenants' Association warns of a housing shortage and a crisis in the welfare state

The German Tenants' Association complains about an ongoing crisis in the German housing market. As the association calculates in its new “rent report”, there is a shortage of around 1.4 million apartments in Germany. The stock of social housing has fallen to a record low of around one million.

The tenants' association warns that the crisis in the housing market is increasingly turning into a crisis in the welfare state. Among other things, the federal government must limit rents and build more social housing.

29 percent of tenants are worried

In a survey for the report, 58 percent reported that their housing costs were significantly too high or had increased in the past twelve months. Of those affected, more than half were able to save less money for reserves or retirement provision, said the president of the tenants' organization, Melanie Weber-Moritz, at the presentation of the "Rent Report 2026".

One in four people save on healthy food and 15 percent save on their own health, for example on medication or dentures. 29 percent of tenants are worried that they will soon no longer be able to pay the rent.

According to the report, a total of 52.3 percent of the population live in rent. The German Tenants' Association's "Rent Report" is published annually and is intended to document the current situation of tenants in Germany.