Wetin dem dey talk before about Mainz go shrink? Na wash! Dem don show say all those old predictions wey dem dey yarn about population go fall, no worth the paper wey dem write am for. But now, new report wey dem present for Wednesday, di ‘Wohnungsmarktbericht Mainz 2025’, dey show real gist. E talk say as we dey now, Mainz get shortage of up to 7000 housing units. Na serious matter.
For di next ten years, di experts wey do di report see say dem fit still build about 9000 more houses for di whole city. But make we no deceive ourselves. Di mayor wey no dey for any party, Nino Haase, talk clear say Mainz go never become ‘low-rent city’. Why? Because di university city dey grow well-well, e dey lively, and e get good location. You no fit just lock am finish say ‘building don complete’. E too attractive.
One important thing dem talk na say dem need to expand main roads wey dey connect di city to di region, like di Rheinhessenstraße. This one go make movement between Mainz and di surrounding areas better. Mainz sef get area wey be nearly 100 square kilometers. But for some areas like Hechtsheim and Ebersheim, dem still fit build small new neighborhoods. Dem fit build up to 3000 housing units there, wey go fit carry up to 7000 people.
Even though rent for Mainz dey high – between 8 and 16 euros per square meter – di experts from di Berlin office wey dem call Regio Kontext talk say from 2015 to 2024, di city try small to reduce pressure for housing market. Project leader Simon Wieland talk say houses don dey build, but at di same time, plenty new people don dey come enter di city.
Di person wey dey handle social matters for di city, Jana Schmöller from SPD, talk say dem manage to create about 1200 new subsidized houses. Na increase of about 20 percent. And e no be only people wey get low income dey enjoy am again now. Even middle-class families dey benefit from am more and more.
According to di study, almost 70 percent of all Mainz residents dey live for rented house. Only 28 percent get their own house. And di movement of people wey dey move from one place to another inside di same city, dem call am internal migration, na only 6 percent. Wieland talk say dis one dey surprisingly low.
About 15 percent of all rented houses dey for di company wey dem call Wohnbau Mainz GmbH. Schmöller talk say dis company, with their fair prices, fit help calm di market small. But she warn say by 2035, di city go need to find and finance suitable housing models for elderly people especially.
One good example she mention na di special apartment exchange program wey di city-owned company create for older people. For dis program, elderly people fit move go smaller house so dat family fit enter di bigger house wey don free.
Many of di big Mainz building projects for past years, like di conversion of di Zollhafen area and di former IBM site for Heiligkreuzweg, no cause any argument. But dem actually be ‘price drivers’. For example, for properties directly for Rhine river, dem dey charge square meter prices of sometimes well over 7000 euros.
Di person wey dey handle building matters, Ludwig Holle from CDU, talk say even though get some development land inside di city, like for di Generalfeldzeugmeister-Kaserne site, dem go mainly build for di outer city areas for future. Plans for completely new city district wey dem dey discuss before, dem no go pursue am again at least until 2035.
Di report dey show serious picture. One important big project dey far away. For now, only di small adjustments remain. Di facts dey clear: Mainz get housing shortage, rent go still high, and di city need to plan well for di next ten years.
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