Last night, off WDR (public TV for the NW of Germany), I sat and watched 'Reset'....a documentary news piece on housing in Germany. It was a fairly interesting piece and I'd recommend a viewing (45 minutes long).
So early on in the documentary....the journalist goes to Frankfurt and meets up with two local retired Germans. They have this hobby....looking at unused housing/apartments in Frankfurt.
The two old guys have found around fifty-odd apartment buildings....some small (maybe ten apartments in the structure) and some large (maybe forty apartments in the structure). They had a map laid out with pins to identify the locations across the city.
All of these buildings sit....unused. No occupants. Most all are in decent condition....maybe a bit of paint would be required, but that's it.
You can figure around a thousand or more apartments that ought to be in use....yet they sit empty.
The two old guys went to the city....asking about the ownership. Oddly, they all lead back to one single guy. He owns all of them. Names aren't discussed and no one is suggesting anything corrupt or illegal.
The appearance? It would appear in some odd way that this person or syndicate bought the apartment structures, and have a long-term strategy of sitting on them for a decade, then renovate to some degree, and sell them perhaps as condos. Illegal? No. But it just contributes more to the housing shortage.
Frankfurt, for those who aren't aware....is in the midst of a housing crisis, and just about anything being built....is strictly for condo sales, and you'd easily be discussing 400k Euro ($500k US dollars). If you want to live in the city...it has a serious price-tag involved, and rentals are decreasing yearly.
It's an interesting video report, and I'd strongly recommend it (all in German though).
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