German Housing Minister Verena Hubertz (SPD) is pushing ahead with a reform of the Building Code intended to accelerate housing construction and simplify procedures. After the already adopted “construction turbo”, a broader draft law on the “modernization of urban development and spatial planning law” is now to follow. What is presented as a technical update, however, contains a provision with far wider implications. In future, the state could help decide who is allowed to acquire property.
At the centre is an expanded municipal right of first refusal. Cities and municipalities would be able to intervene even when they consider a buyer politically problematic. The proposal refers specifically to individuals attributed with “anti-constitutional activities”. In such cases, a municipality could step in, take over the purchase and replace the original buyer. The political direction is stated openly by the ministry itself. The instrument could apply, for example, “if right-wing extremists attempt to buy into a village”.
What the draft does not mention is striking. Neither Islamist milieus nor left-wing extremist structures such as Antifa appear in the justification as comparable examples. The focus is clearly on right-wing actors.
The draft, first reported by the German news platform Nius, sets an unusually low threshold for intervention. No criminal conviction and no illegal conduct would be required. The text states that the activities do “not necessarily [have] to be militant-aggressive or illegal”. It is sufficient if they appear capable of “producing political effects sooner or later”. The decisive factor therefore becomes not conduct, but an assessment of potential political impact.
