Roof extension offers enormous living space potential
A great opportunity for more flats in Germany lies on the roofs: More than 1.5 million additional flats could be created by adding storeys to roofs. And in places where living space is already scarce and housing is expensive: in large cities, conurbations and university towns.
This is the conclusion of a study presented today in Berlin by the Technical University of Darmstadt and the Pestel Institute in Hanover. To ensure that this potential can be utilised quickly, the German government should create incentives and allow special depreciation for additional storeys, according to the scientists. The study assumes an average size of around 85 square metres of living space for flats that can be built as "on-top floors" on the roofs of existing residential buildings.
The study focuses on the housing reserves of apartment blocks built between 1950 and 1990. According to the study, an additional 1.12 million flats could be built in regions with a tight housing market simply by adding storeys to the roofs of around 580,000 of these post-war buildings. In addition, a further 420,000 flats could be built on buildings constructed before 1950. "The potential is enormous. And this is despite the fact that the study takes into account both the protection of historical monuments and the preservation of the cityscape when selecting the buildings that are eligible for a roof extension," says Prof Dr Karsten Tichelmann from TU Darmstadt.
The advantage of the extension is that no additional building land is needed. This also means that no new green spaces would be sealed. There would also be no need to build new infrastructure - no new roads, sewers or supply lines would be required. This means that the land and development costs are already two important points where savings can be made. With an extension, the energy requirement on the floor below could be reduced by up to half.
The press release, short and long versions of the study as well as the political demands of the associations can be found in the download area on the following website: www.impulse-fuer-den-wohnungsbau.de/...wohnraum-potential.html
Keywords: Increase, Stock, DE-News, Wood construction, New books and studies, Resource efficiency
