Affordable housing remains scarce, especially in major cities. Traditional new construction alone cannot close this gap — making it all the more important to focus on existing buildings. New analyses and surveys show that existing building stock holds significant potential for additional housing — through reuse, expansion, or more efficient use of space.

According to the Federal Foundation for Baukultur, 80 percent of the population supports the preservation and reuse of existing buildings. Unused office space, in particular, is seen by nearly 90 percent of respondents as suitable for inner-city redensification. In addition to broad public support, redensification, adding storeys, and reuse also offer economic and ecological advantages: they save land, resources, and CO₂ — and are often significantly more cost-effective than new build.

Depending on the type of renovation, construction costs per square meter of gross floor area can be noticeably lower than those for new builds. Calculations by the Construction Cost Information Center (BKI) show that converting an attic costs around €1,800 per square meter on average, and an extension about €1,740 — compared to roughly €2,760 for a new building.

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