Bremen buys affordability directly: the owner of unbound flats is paid a one-off grant to accept a Miet- und Belegungsbindung, or to extend one that is running out. No construction required.
- What you get: a one-off Zuschuss of €1,000 per unit per year of Bindung. At the standard 20-year Zweckbindung that is €20,000 per unit. The grant is meant to offset the rent forgone.
- What you give: rent capped at €6.80/m² net cold (Mietenstufe 1) or €9.00/m² (Mietenstufe 2), letting only to Wohnberechtigungsschein holders whose income exceeds § 9 Abs. 2 WoFG by no more than 70 % / 110 %, for at least 20 years.
- Applicant: any owner, no restriction on Rechtsform; the flats must currently be free of binding.
- Where a new Bindung follows straight on from an expiring one, the new rent starts from the last Sozialmiete, not from market level.
- Same rationed route as the other Bausteine: Interessenbekundung to Referat 23, selection in the annual Wohnraumförderungsprogramm, Bescheid from BAB.
- For a cohousing group this is the cheapest way to lock a building it already owns into permanent affordability, and a way to buy an occupied building without displacing tenants. It is a grant, not debt, so it does not consume borrowing capacity.
Related
- bremen-wohnraumfoerderung — the frame and process
- bremen-modernisierungsfoerderung-mietwohnraum — when the building also needs work
- bremen-neubaufoerderung-mietwohnraum — the new-build alternative
- belegungsbindung — what a Bindung obliges you to
- wohngemeinnuetzigkeit — the permanent-affordability question this line partly answers
- eg-cooperative — a co-op self-binding its own stock
Detail
- Breaches carry a Vertragsstrafe of up to €5.00 per m² per month; clawed-back grant is charged at 5.0 % interest.
- Existing tenancies already above the permitted rent are frozen until the permitted rent catches up.
- Exceptions to the 20-year minimum are decided case by case; the Förderungsnehmer may also waive part of the grant.