Living in Berlin: Fewer and fewer new cooperative apartments in Berlin

“Since the previous high of 840 completions in 2018, the number has fallen by almost 80 percent,” the BBU said. For the current year, the association expects around 160 completions – a further decline of more than ten percent compared to the previous year.

The reasons are varied. In addition to the ongoing issue of increased construction and financing costs, the cooperatives are also reportedly running out of building plots. Many clubs have now largely exhausted their building land reserves, it was said. “Due to the high land prices, however, new properties on the open market are often only available under conditions that are not compatible with the cooperative’s claim of permanently affordable rents.”

Given the constantly rising prices for new rentals, the demand for cheaper living space in cooperative apartments remains unsurprisingly high. According to the BBU, the vacancy rate in housing cooperatives remained at around 0.9 percent at the end of 2025, well below the level of the other BBU member companies, which also include state-owned, church and private housing providers. “Many housing cooperatives are therefore no longer able to accept new members.”