"Building and housing is the social issue of our time," Germany's new Construction and Housing Minister Verena Hubertz told public broadcaster ARD in May when she announced her plan to help ease the shortage of affordable housing.

With the cabinet set to present its 2026 budget proposal on July 30, spending on housing is one of the focal points.

In a country where it can take longer to get approval for a development project than it does to actually build it, Hubertz said she wanted to give local authorities a "crowbar" to circumvent labyrinthine urban planning laws. That crowbar, labeled "Bau-Turbo" (construction turbo), is a new paragraph (§ 246e) to be inserted into the German Building Code.

If the legislation is passed in the fall, municipalities will be able to approve construction, change-of-use and renovation projects that deviate from the provisions of the Building Code if those projects are for the construction of new residential buildings.

Planning applications will also be automatically approved after two months unless vetoed by the municipality.

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Building regulations vary between each of Germany's 16 states and among municipalities, resulting in an ever-growing patchwork of rules governing everything from the number of electric sockets per room to the shape and color of roofs.

The Construction Ministry estimates its legislative amendment, to be passed by the Bundestag in the fall, will save companies, citizens and local authorities around €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion)........

© Deutsche Welle