In the current mood of crisis, many homeowners in Germany want to save on modernizing their properties, according to a new survey. 31 percent want to postpone their projects, 9 percent want to do without them entirely, according to a survey of 1,023 homeowners by the Yougov survey institute.
In this case, "modernisation" is not synonymous with energetic renovation, since some house and apartment owners also wanted to renew their properties in other ways. However, this includes many energy-saving projects: According to a survey, more than a third of owners (36 percent) consider it urgent to improve the energy efficiency of their house or apartment.
Main factor: Increased construction costs
Yougov surveyed 1,023 homeowners aged 18 and over, all of whom lived in their property themselves. The customer was Bausparkasse BHW, a subsidiary of Postbank, which belongs to the Deutsche Bank Group.
A key factor is evidently the rapid rise in construction costs: Of those who want to postpone or cancel their modernization projects, almost half said that they would reconsider if construction costs were lower. Apart from that, the lack of craftsmen is also slowing down modernization: 45 percent of those surveyed reported difficulties in getting a craft business.
The survey coincides with surveys among housing companies, according to which a slump in the construction industry is to be expected. Construction experts have been warning for a long time that the climate goals of the federal government in the building sector can hardly be achieved. There are around 43 million apartments in Germany, most of which are not state-of-the-art in terms of energy efficiency. The official goal is climate neutrality in Germany by 2045.
