German Furniture Industry Launches Ambitious Campaign to Boost Housing Construction

In a significant strategic move, Germany's furniture and interiors industry has launched a major initiative under the slogan "Germany's national economic strength". The campaign, which kicked off on February 3, 2025, aims to draw attention to the challenges facing the construction and furniture sector as the housing crisis threatens to affect the entire industry.

The current situation is alarming: instead of the 400,000 new homes needed each year, estimates show that the number could fall below 200,000 units. This trend threatens not just the construction sector, but the entire value chain - from furniture manufacturers to installers and interior designers.

Jan Kurth, Executive Director of the German Furniture Industry Associations and coordinator of the initiative, emphasizes: "Germany needs housing, and for that we need policies that encourage it. As an industry, we are already making our essential contribution to quality of life and economic stability, but without the right policy framework we cannot meet the current challenges."

With more than four million jobs along the supply chain, the construction, furniture and interior design sectors are a vital part of the German economy. With this campaign, the industry is calling for concrete measures such as:

• Halving tax on real estate transactions
• Consolidating fragmented financing programs. There are many different financing programs for housing construction in Germany, each with their own rules, requirements and application processes. They may come from different administrative levels (federal, Länder, municipalities) or different institutions and may include: energy efficiency programs, financing schemes for young families, green building programs, renovation financing, passive house support schemes and others. This fragmentation creates confusion and administrative complexity for both builders and beneficiaries. Many potential beneficiaries are unaware of the existence of all the programs, or get lost in the red tape required to apply for multiple programs. Consolidating these programs would mean unifying them, simplifying the application process, reducing bureaucracy and processing time, etc. Basically, instead of having 10-15 different programs with different rules, have maybe 2-3 larger, better structured and easier to access programs.
• Subordinated loans for homeowners building their own home. Subordinated loans (in German "Nachrangdarlehen für Selbstnutzer") are a special type of loan that supplements the main mortgage. It is basically a support measure for people who want to build their own home but do not have the down payment for a mortgage loan, offering them an alternative to traditional personal loans which usually carry much higher interest rates.
• Speed up approval processes to reduce delays in planning and construction

This initiative demonstrates how the furniture industry can play an active role in shaping public policy and ensuring the sustainable development of the sector. For more information on this initiative, please visit deutschlands-heimische-wirtschaftskraft.de.