Housing market: Vacant apartments in Brandenburg continue to fall

The number of vacant apartments in Brandenburg has continued to decline. As the Association of Berlin-Brandenburg Housing Companies (BBU) announced, the vacancy rate in the districts and independent cities outside of the Berlin area and Potsdam last year fell below the ten percent mark for the first time since 2017. “With a rate of 9.7 percent, it is as low as it was last in 1998,” said BBU board member Maren Kern.

Less vacancy due to special effects

The development is largely due to special effects, emphasized Kern. One of them is the accommodation of refugees. On paper, the move reduces the vacancy rate, but it is often only temporary. Vacancy is still a major problem, said Kern. There is a high proportion of permanently vacant apartments.

In the Berlin area, new construction is particularly encouraging, Kern added. According to Kern, over 3,300 new apartments have been completed in the relevant cities in the last five years, more than 1,200 of them in PotsdamA further 3,600 apartments are to follow between 2024 and 2028, around 1,450 of which will be in Potsdam. This is good news for tenants. Despite the ongoing strong influx of people, this will create a good supply, says Kern.

Divergence between rents and inflation

A major concern for many landlords is the increasing divergence between rent and inflation trends. “This weak rent development at an already low level is, of course, good news from the tenants' point of view. “But the truth is that it noticeably weakens our company's investment power and they are therefore able to invest less in good housing,” said Kern.

With their approximately 315,000 rental apartments in all Brandenburg cities, the BBU member companies account for almost half of all rental apartments in Brandenburg

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