New housing for Berlin: Senate commission meets monthly

The new Senate Housing Commission is to meet once a month in the future.

The core task of the comission is the interdepartmental management of major housing construction projects in Berlin, the Senate Chancellery announced on Tuesday (April 26, 2022). Above all, however, the implementation of individual construction projects that have been stalled so far is to be reviewed. The commission is then to find solutions to remove obstacles that are holding up construction progress. These could include problems such as a lack of compensation areas, conflicts of use and questions of competence.

Senate housing commission meets for the first time

The commission, headed by Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey, met for the first time on Tuesday following the Senate meeting. Commission members are Senator for Urban Development Andreas Geisel, Senator for Urban Mobility and the Environment Bettina Jarasch, Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz, Finance Senator Daniel Wesener, and Senator for Social Services Katja Kipping. The first meeting provided an overview of the content of the joint activities.

Giffey: New housing construction must have absolute priority

"Especially in view of the many refugees arriving from Ukraine, it is clear that the construction of new housing must have absolute priority," Giffey announced at the start of the commission meeting. She added that this would only work in good coordination with the Senate administrations and districts involved. "The Senate Commission on Housing is intended to quickly remove hurdles and obstacles to our major construction projects and to resolve disputes at the highest level." This is how the goal of 20,000 new apartments per year is to be achieved.