A sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany has contributed to an increase in homelessness by more than 50% over the past 12 months, according to a report by the Emergency Housing Assistance organization.
The Times reported, citing data issued by the Federal Association for Assistance to the Homeless (Bag W), that increasing rents, a lack of social housing, and high costs of living have led to limited housing options for about a million refugees who fled Ukraine.
In addition, about 148,000 non-Ukrainians have applied for asylum in Germany in 2022, further exacerbating the scarcity of available housing in the country.
“Inflation, rising costs and rising rents are taking a toll on families in Germany with poor incomes,” Werina Rosinke, director of Bag W, told The Times. She added that the most vulnerable groups are “low-income one-person families, single parents and couples with many children.”
Last year, about 607,000 people were at least temporarily homeless in Germany, compared to 383,000 in 2021, Bag W said.
While homeless statistics were not broken down by nationality, January data from the country's Federal Statistical Office reported that Ukrainian citizens accounted for just under a third of the homeless population.
About 50,000 homeless people in Germany were forced to sleep on the streets, according to Bag W's analysis. The rest were able to find temporary housing, such as shelters or in the homes of friends or acquaintances.
At the end of last week, a poll conducted by Der Spiegel magazine concluded that about 40% of the 125 local authorities in the “Sanctuary Cities” coalition are close to reaching the limits of receiving migrants. Another survey, conducted by Hildesheim University, found that about 40% of the 600 regions surveyed were “stressed” or “in emergency mode.”
The Bag W report also noted that the significant decline in the social housing sector has exacerbated homelessness problems in Germany, especially since the volume of publicly funded housing has halved, to just over a million in the past two decades.
“The lack of affordable accommodation remains the main reason for the housing shortage in Germany,” Rosinke said. “For this reason, both German and non-German homeless people cannot be provided with adequate housing that suits their needs.”
The Times said that the number of people expected to seek asylum in Germany in 2023 is expected to exceed 300,000.
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