Herrenberg becomes part of the cooperative for affordable housing!

Herrenberg becomes part of the cooperative for affordable housing!

Something is happening in the area of ​​housing cooperatives in the Böblingen region! The Herrenberg local council recently decided to join the newly founded cooperative “ BürgerWohnen Landkreis Böblingen eG”. The special? Herrenberg is the third municipality and at the same time the first large district town to join this initiative. This is reported at Government Gazette.

The cooperative has set itself the goal of creating affordable housing and is aimed at social tenants. District Administrator Roland Bernhard is behind this project and will directly promote the establishment in the fall. To begin with, a piece of land that once housed a gas station will be handed over to the cooperative on a leasehold basis. In addition to Herrenberg, the municipalities of Holzgerlingen and Rutesheim have also joined, while Nufringen and Schönaich are working on membership. Mötzingen, Aidlingen and Grafenau are also showing interest.

Urgent need for housing in the district

The need for housing in the region is enormous. The Pestel Institute has estimated the shortage at around 8,500 apartments, with affordable rental apartments particularly in demand. There are currently only 1,540 social rental apartments available in the district. At least 80 more units are expected to be built by 2028. The cooperative is planning a wood-hybrid construction with a basic model that includes three apartments per floor and is calculating a rental price of 9.50 euros per square meter and construction costs of less than 3,000 euros per square meter.

A very important point is the upper income limits for the residence permit. The annual income must be calculated separately for each person in the household. For non-self-employed work, for example, the gross annual earnings count less tax-recognized business expenses. There are reliefs for single mothers or fathers, such as deducting the tax relief amount if a child lives in the household. The exact framework conditions are clearly presented on the city of Böblingen’s website: Böblingen.de.

Financing and administration

This project is financed through government subsidies, cheap land and inexpensive construction. The cooperative approaches are intended to relieve the burden on municipal budgets because they generate fewer profits. In order to cover the initial costs, the district council is making 500,000 euros available for initial planning and the district is planning a total investment of 4.2 million euros. The cooperative also envisages a lean administration with just 1.5 positions.

Experience shows that housing companies in the region are of great importance in providing adequate housing. Initiatives such as the Citizens' Cooperative Housing in the Ludwigsburg district, which has been building social housing since 2022, could serve as a model. In Berlin, for example, state-owned companies manage well over 360,000 apartments and are known for meeting the demand for affordable housing.

It will be exciting to see how this development continues to unfold in Herrenberg and the surrounding communities. The first steps have been taken and the municipalities are showing a good knack for future-oriented solutions in housing construction. For many citizens, this initiative will undoubtedly be a ray of hope in the often difficult housing market.