The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning

Research Project: Structure of the construction backlog and its reasons

Project briefing

The so-called construction backlog (German: Bauüberhang), i.e. approved but not yet completed dwellings, has increased in recent years. The research project examined structures and changes in the construction backlog and analysed reasons for this. The results serve as a scientifically sound basis for further housing policy discussion on the construction backlog.

Background

The number of approved but not yet completed dwellings in Germany has increased steadily in recent years. At the end of 2021, the construction backlog comprised over 845,000 dwellings nationwide.

The increase in the construction backlog could initially be explained by the significant rise in the number of building permits issued and the time lag between permits and completions. In recent years, however, the growing construction backlog has increasingly been the subject of discussion. In this context, speculative intentions, delays in the construction process due to fully utilised capacities in the construction industry or delays until the start of construction (e.g. due to objections from neighbours or technical problems in preparing the building sites for construction) have been cited as possible causes for the increasing construction backlog. Nevertheless, a more intensive analysis of the structure and reasons for the construction backlog in Germany has not yet taken place.

Objective

The aim of the study was to understand the structure and changes in the construction backlog and to explain the reasons for its strong increase in recent years. The intention is to provide housing policy with a basis for a thorough assessment of possible consequences of this development as well as courses of action to accelerate a reduction in the construction backlog or to support a slower increase.

The contractor for the research project was empirica ag, Berlin.

Contact us

  • Christoph Zander
    Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
    Division WB 1 „General Housing and Property Markets“
    Phone: +49 228 99401-1585
    Email: christoph.zander@bbr.bund.de

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