Der Leipziger Wohnungsmarkt: Teilmärkte und sozialräumliche Differenzierungen

Abstract

Using the example of Leipzig, this article describes connections between the specific accommodation market situation in East Germany and problems of city development. The development of demand in some partial accommodation markets is particularly of interest against the backdrop of demographic, social and economic restructuring. The special circumstances of newly forming property structures characterise in the long-term the supply situation considerably. I nexpensive real estate offers, high vacancy levels and some bottlenecks in the provision of accommodation for low-income groups are characteristic for the situation in the Leipzig accommodation market. A growing offer of perfectly modernized accommodation is faced with a continual reduction in the city population. The considerable exploitation pressure which buildings and properties are subjected to is in contrast with the low level of income available to the local inhabitants. The very high repair costs and the professionalisation of the ownership structures of old buildings are considerable causes why the dilemma of the Leipzig accommodation market is particularly apparent within the city districts built in the period of promoterism (1871/90). The need to catch up in terms of owner-occupied houses and the extension of the offer in this sector, especially around Leipzig, has revealed itself to be a further, central problem for the future development of the partial markets within the city. Severe migration losses and a low level of demand from young, economically secure and high disposable-income households are essential reasons why the situation in the city centre residential areas of Leipzig is now considerably different than in comparable city regions of West Germany, which in the last decades have been characterised by population growth and prosperity. Gentry fication processes are therefore almost exclusively initiated by those offering real estate. The demand-related preconditions for the process of gentryfication are, on the other hand, hardly present, not least as a result of the lower real income and a low proportion of younger households preferring old city centre buildings. In general, the social structure and the disposable income of the city population suggest that a very large proportion of the Leipzig households will remain dependent on inexpensive, rented accommodation with functional facilities. The vacancy and, in some areas, surplus supply are therefore not a signal to in the future leave the development of the accommodation market subjected to the forces of a free market. We must not forget in this context that even if the Leipzig population stagnates at a low level, we should presume in the medium-term an increase in the demand for accommodation. Development of assets, individualisati on tendencies and the reduction in average household size which goes hand in hand with this, as well as changed living preferences will, in the long-term, effect a sustained increase in the required accommodation. With the changed living place preferences of the population, new property circumstances and the voluntary and involuntary migration which this causes, it becomes clear that the development of the accommodation market is, at the same time, a decisive factor for the structural transformation of partial city regions and for the formation of the new, socio-regional structure in Leipzig.