In August 2026, Germany approved construction permits for 20,600 housing units. According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this marks a 6.8 percent increase or 1,300 more permits than were issued in August 2025. Specifically, the number of newly constructed apartments rose by 4.2 percent, reaching 16,500, while permits for remodelling existing structures increased by 18.2 percent, adding 600 units and totalizing 4,200. It should be noted that construction permits sometimes do not enter the statistics in the month they are issued, but rather later through follow-up reports from local housing authorities.
Looking at the cumulative data from January through August 2026, construction permits for residential units in both new and existing buildings totaled 169,400. This represents a 12.1 percent increase or 18,300 more units compared to the same period in 2025.
For new residential constructions, 137,500 units were permitted from January to August 2026, which is 12.7 percent higher (or 15,400 units) than in 2025. Among the new builds, permits for single-family homes increased by 7.8 percent, reaching 31,500. Two-family homes saw a significant jump of 21.7 percent, rising to 10,000. The largest segment, multi-family homes, received 90,600 new build permits, reflecting a 14.5 percent increase (11,500 units) from the previous year. Conversely, the number of permitted apartments in nursing homes dropped by 2.0 percent, settling at 5,300.
In addition to purely residential units, 2,900 permits for new non-residential buildings were issued between January and August 2026, an increase of 5.9 percent (200 permits). These include properties like caretaker apartments in schools or units located in urban areas above commercial space.
Furthermore, when factoring in remodelling measures across existing residential and non-residential properties, 29,100 units were permitted from January to August 2026. This signifies a 10.1 percent rise or 2,700 additional units compared to the same period in 2025.
