WE ARE NOT ALONE: GERMANY'S HOUSING MARKET STRUGGLING WITH IMMIGRATION
- Finbar O'Marcaigh
- Oct 30, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 1, 2024
A round of jaw-dropping and pearl clutching was convened within national media, political and NGO circles when Taoiseach Simon Harris openly linked the ongoing housing crisis to growing demand due to immigration. The unified gasp of the faux-shocked imigration crisis deniers resulted in nests being sucked from trees around the state.
To any individual in their right mind however the utterance by the Taoiseach was the belated admission of a no-brainer. Of course an increase in demand for housing linked to immigration in all it's forms will add additional stresses to the housing market by driving up prices while reducing availability. Ireland is not the only EU country facing a housing crunch that can be linked to immigration however. According to AIDA (Asylum Information Database – European Council) the housing situation in Germany is “very tense”.
In a review report for AIDA authors Teresa Fachinger, Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik and Marlene Stiller state that the rate of home building is not keeping pace with the numbers of asylum applicants seeking housing. They write that the German government have not met their building targets and the overall tone and assessment methods within the review do not identify the numbers of immigrants entering Germany as a contributing problem, but rather an inadeqaute number of homes coming onto the market is the issue as the authors see it.
The report does however acknowledge the impact of a “very tense” housing market in that those newly arrived to Germany as International Protection Applicants are competing for housing, especially affordable housing, with long term citizens of the country. As the report states,
“Refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection de facto compete with the already existing lack of low-costs units, which leads to tensions and resentment against refugees.”
A recent study in Germany examining the effects of immigration on home pricing (to buy and to let) noted significant price increases as immigration increased. In the last twenty years the numbers of people immigrating into the country as a proportion of the overall population has increased from 8.5% to 14%.
France and other major EU states are fairing no better with housing shortages severely exacerbated by mass immigration. Although the crisis-denier's go-to explanation is government failure to build more homes, the reality is that at current rates of immigration, no amount of increase in the pace of building will satisfy demand. This means that prices to buy or rent will continue to steadily climb in Ireland whilst availability continues to nose-dive.
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