German real estate association ZIA on election outcome

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The leading German lobbying association for the real estate industry, ZIA Zentraler Immobilien Ausschuss wasted little time in issuing its assessment of what voters had expressed in the federal elections on 21st September, which saw Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU alliance romp home at the expense of nearly all the other parties, but still fail to reach an overall majority. The voters had given a big thumbs-down to further tax increases and more burdensome regulations, was ZIA’s interpretation.

ZIA represents 21 different real estate industry associations with more than 37,000 members and counts about 150 prominent companies among its direct membership. Over the last five years it has risen to be the predominant mouthpiece of the German real estate industry, and has done (certainly in REFIRE’s view) a remarkable job in bundling all the diverse and often rival real estate organisations in Germany under a common umbrella, giving it more clout in Berlin and Brussels.

ZIA president Andreas Mattner commented: “The election results show that the voters are not in the mood for further experimentation, and have expressed a clear wish for internal and external stability. The important decisions relating to the “Energiewende” (Germany’s new energy policy) and demographic change in the country require speed, clarity and political stability – there is little tolerance for political game-playing which would hinder decisive decision-making.”

“The real estate industry is demanding clarity and no further muddying of the regulations surrounding the compulsory energy-saving capital expenditure demanded of property owners. We need to sit down for talks immediately about the issue of tax incentives for energy-saving refurbishment measures. There must be an immediate end to the never-ending discussions about possible/probable tax increases and further tightening regulation in financial markets. ZIA is also pleading for more comprehensive talks between the Länder and the federal government to establish much more clarity about national construction guidelines for the residential housing sector. The land transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) is also an issue that needs to be dealt with”, said Mattner in his statement.