Saxony-Anhalt
Lots of vacancies and old buildings: living trends in Saxony-Anhalt
December 18, 2024, 1:21 p.m
While in some German cities there are kilometer-long queues to view apartments, in Saxony-Anhalt one in eleven apartments is empty. Why is that?
Halle (dpa / sa) – In Saxony-Anhalt, many apartments remain unused: in 2022, almost one in eleven apartments will be empty – a total of over 111,000, as the Saxony-Anhalt State Statistical Office announced. Dessau-Roßlau was particularly affected, where more than one in eight apartments was empty. The state capital, on the other hand, had the lowest vacancy rate at just under seven percent.
Old buildings shape the housing market
Over half of the apartments in the state were built before 1950 – nationwide the proportion was 25 percent. Old buildings are a problem, particularly for senior households, which make up almost half of the apartment users. Accessibility, such as threshold-free entrances or walk-in showers, was not available in many apartments.
Living space is getting smaller
With an average household size of 1.9 people in 2023, the trend is towards smaller apartments, as the State Statistical Office announced. Almost 80 percent of households consisted of one or two people, but small units remained in short supply: one- and two-room apartments made up less than 12 percent of the stock. Instead, four-room apartments dominated.
