Future of housing: Committee discusses innovative solutions!

Future of housing: Committee discusses innovative solutions!

On October 10, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. there will be a meeting of the Committee for Youth, Social Affairs and Family in Wörth, which will deal with the topic “Housing of the future: Shaping it together, learning from each other”. The event is part of a committee excursion, the notice of which was provided in the form of a PDF document but is unreadable due to technical difficulties ( stadt-woerth.de ).

The discussion about contemporary living concepts has become more relevant these days. The housing industry in particular is faced with the challenge of providing affordable and age-appropriate housing for a growing population of older people. A study funded by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research supports this discourse by analyzing the strategies of housing companies in Germany and Switzerland ( bbsr.bund.de ).

Challenges in the housing sector

The Committee on Housing, Urban Development, Building and Municipalities has attracted increased public attention in recent months. It faces the various challenges in the construction and housing sector, with a particular focus on the situation in municipalities with declining populations and vacancies. At the same time, metropolitan areas need new, affordable living space ( bundestag.de ).

The committee's agenda includes measures to activate new building land and targeted densification. Discussions about support options for home ownership are also particularly relevant, including building savings subsidies, building child benefit and programs from the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.

Strategies for living in old age

In view of demographic change, ensuring age-appropriate housing options is extremely important. However, a large number of housing companies are currently developing inadequate strategies for living in old age. This often happens because quick rentals are available in in-demand markets, making it difficult to address the specific needs of older people.

Incentives to develop successful strategies could arise if older people in markets with low demand are perceived as an important target group or if sustainability funds impose specific requirements. The study identified eleven areas of action for housing companies.

A central measure is improving communication with older people through tailor-made contacts and offering social services in the neighborhood. It is also emphasized that rental management must be specifically targeted at tenants in need in order to ensure the distribution of affordable housing in the long term.

The challenges regarding data protection and non-discriminatory access to rentals also remain and show that cooperative approaches and exchange between actors are required to develop targeted measures.