In the future, housing support could be financed through loans

Two thirds of Berlin’s housing funding could be financed through loans in the future. Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) said this on Tuesday following the Senate press conference.

As part of the consolidation pressure of five billion euros by 2026, the aim is to make it possible to take out loans of up to one billion annually, he said.

He cited housing subsidies as a specific example, which could therefore be regulated differently. So far this has consisted of grants and loans. This could be changed so that the loan portion is financed from loans. In the third year after the change, a loan could be taken out to finance almost one billion euros, he said. That is two thirds of the total volume of housing funding. The changed financing logic would not change anything for the recipients of the funding, said Evers.

The approach now proposed is not new. As the Finance Senator said, the municipal housing company Howoge uses loans to finance the construction of new schools, which the state then rents until the debt is paid off. Evers pointed out that this type of financing also meant long-term burdens for the state of Berlin. “There is no money falling from heaven. No pot has been found at the end of the rainbow,” he said.

Opposition speaks of “missed opportunity”

Criticism came from the Green and Left factions, who were disappointed by the Senate’s move. “The basic models for credit-financed investments as part of the debt brake are well known,” said André Schulze, budget expert for the Greens. It is a “missed opportunity” that the senator has not presented anything on loan financing of individual projects and climate protection financing, nor on increasing the equity capital of state-owned companies.

Sebastian Schlüsselburg, budget policy spokesman for the Left Party, also criticized the coalition’s “postponement.” He again called for a supplementary budget. Berlin cannot afford any further delays