Jena residential building land model

Tense housing market

Jena is one of the few cities in the new federal states with a continuously growing population since the early 2000s. In combination with an increased number of statistical households, a continuous decline in construction activity since 2016 and a very low vacancy rate of 2.1 % (as of 2023, corresponding to approx. 1,250 apartments), this has led to a tight housing market in Jena. In order to remain competitive as a regional center and to be able to provide housing for skilled workers, a corresponding supply of housing is required.

Municipal land ownership

The "Jena 2035 residential development area concept " defines the qualified demand for housing expected by 2035 and the potential residential development areas required. The update of the city-wide land use plan (FNP) takes this land use plan into account. However, these urban development concepts alone are not sufficient for rapid building land mobilization. If the city has its own land, it can influence the socio-political, urban planning, ecological and fiscal objectives of urban development. However, the availability of municipally owned land is very limited and land acquisition is difficult due to the tight market. Only around 12 percent of all potential residential building land in the "Jena 2035 residential building land concept" is owned by the city.

Social housing

Without a long-term supply of land, it is not possible to ensure a socially acceptable supply of housing through the creation of rent- and occupancy-linked housing or concept allocation and the rapid provision of affordable housing. Publicly subsidized housing is particularly important for the provision of low-income households. However, their number has decreased significantly since 2015. Supplementary subsidized housing construction could not be carried out to the necessary extent in the Free State of Thuringia due to the current funding conditions for the legislative period up to 2024.

The short supply of housing is driving up rents and building land prices - this can only be counteracted by increasing supply. The future urban building land policy is therefore of central importance for sustainable, socially and climate-friendly urban development.

Ulm model

Various municipalities in Germany already have a building land model and apply it in the sense of socially just land use. These include Stuttgart, Munich, Potsdam and Münster, for example. The "Ulm Model", which has served as a guide for some cities, has been practiced in the city of Ulm since the 1890s and is based in particular on the principle that the city buys land at an early stage and keeps it in its own hands in order to steer long-term and sustainable urban development.

In accordance with the city council resolution "From the Ulm model to the Jena model" (21/0977-BV dated 08.12.2021), a working group was formed consisting of representatives from the city administration, the city-owned company KIJ and representatives of all city council factions to develop a "Jena model" based on the "Ulm model" of land supply planning. As a result of an intensive working process and an exchange with other municipalities, it was determined that There is no blueprint for a building land model.

The Jena model must be tailored to the individual framework conditions of the city and the associated severe restrictions (location, topography, nature conservation, flood plains, special features of the settlement structure, limited availability of land, limited financial and personnel capacities, etc.).

The following seven points were confirmed by the city council as the guiding principles of Jena's housing land policy with the political policy resolution:

1. The city of Jena pursues the goal of sustainable and socially balanced development of housing construction through the demand-oriented creation of housing in a socio-political and price-stabilizing target size based on the respective valid version of the residential building land concept. This currently corresponds to a target of 4,830 apartments by 2035.
2. The city of Jena is pushing for the strategic acquisition of land and the long-term provision of key plots of land in accordance with ISEK key project no. 9 "Strategic land management" with the aim of expanding the city of Jena's municipal scope for action in the long term for the common good.
3. The city of Jena promotes the implementation of social policy goals and climate protection goals by initiating urban land-use planning procedures to create building rights in line with demand and, in particular, promotes the development of residential building land in municipal hands.
4. The city of Jena continues to actively manage the allocation of municipal building plots via the concept allocation and the guideline on the criteria-based allocation of owner-occupied housing plots (owner-occupied housing guideline).
5. The City of Jena continues to rely on the commitment and involvement of private individuals in the development of building land, provided that they implement quantitative and qualitative housing structure requirements or enter into commitments.
6. The City of Jena strives for an appropriate and fair distribution of building land development costs between the planning beneficiaries and itself.
7. The city of Jena continuously pursues the preservation and development of Jena as a "city of short distances" through a climate-friendly addition of compact and mixed-use structures close to the city center with a density that is compatible with the climate and cityscape and through the integration of urban greenery in accordance with the guiding principle of "double inner development".

This model builds on existing city council resolutions on Jena's housing policy.

Consolidation of housing policy: guidelines and concept allocation

In order to provide a qualitatively sufficient supply of housing within the city for the further sustainable and socially balanced development of the housing market in the regional center of Jena, thecity council resolution "Stabilization of housing policy for Jena: guidelines and concept allocation" (20/0482-BV of 14.10.2020) set the price-stabilizing social policy goal of creating 4,830 housing units by 2035.

ISEK Jena 2030+

In the Integrated Urban Development Concept Jena 2030+ (ISEK, StR resolution 17/1632-BV), key project no. 9 on "Strategic land management" formulates the goal of strengthening the municipal scope for action through strategic land acquisition, which can only be achieved by building up a long-term land reserve (i.e. land stockpiling beyond the current needs assessments of the specialist concepts). Strategic municipal land management serves the sustainable and responsible use of the limited resource of land and takes into account not only economic but also ecological, climatic and social concerns.

Housing policy guidelines

The allocation of municipal building plots is regulated in the "Housing Policy Guidelines" as the overarching strategy of Jena's housing policy. These are underpinnedby City Council resolutions no. 20/0482-BV on the concept allocation of multi-storey residential buildings, no. 22/1740-BV on the criteria-based allocation of owner-occupied properties and no. 21/0903-BV on the creation of rent- and occupancy-based housing in accordance with the Jena model for social housing construction from 2020 to 2022.

Climate-friendly urban development

The building land resolution can support the implementation of the "city of short distances" model and climate-friendly urban development, as the key to a climate-friendly addition to compact and mixed-use structures, primarily close to the city center, lies in municipal access to land. A land reserve in municipal ownership opens up design options and creates a basis for the rapid, cost-effective provision of the required land.

The Jena Residential Building Land Model is made up of the following four strategic building blocks (see also Appendix 1 "Overview of the strategy building blocks" in the download area):

Building block A - Development of municipal land

Municipal land ownership enables the short-term implementation of socially responsible, sustainable and urban development-qualified building land development. In order to be able to meet the quantitative and qualitative objectives of building land development, Jena is increasingly developing municipal land - in addition to private land - that is included in the current version of the residential building land concept to the point where it is ready for construction.

Urban land-use planning procedures are initiated as required for municipally owned residential development sites. The city is responsible for planning, development and marketing. The "Housing Policy Guidelines of the City of Jena" are applied (20/0482-BV for the concept allocation of multi-storey residential buildings and 22/1740-BV for the criteria-based allocation of owner-occupied plots). The city also supports community housing projects on its land (City Council resolution 21/0989-BV ).

In future, a minimum proportion of 30 percent for the creation of rent- and occupancy-linked housing will apply to residential development sites intended for multi-storey residential construction with at least 15 residential units. The prerequisite for the implementation of this goal is a corresponding funding framework from the Free State of Thuringia.

Component B - Strategic land acquisition and long-term land supply policy

In order to cover ongoing land requirements for short and medium-term project development and to build up a long-term land supply, the city must acquire sufficient land at an early stage. In future, the City of Jena (Eigenbetrieb KIJ) will increasingly acquire land that is included in the current residential development concept in particular. In addition, it will purchase other areas suitable for development, areas for nature conservation compensation and replacement measures, areas suitable for exchange and areas in the sense of a long-term open-use land reserve.

The KIJ land management department is available as a point of contact for owners wishing to sell and supports the entire purchase process from the initial non-binding inquiry through to the conclusion of the purchase contract.

In future, the City of Jena will continue and intensify the use of the general (Section 24 BauGB) and special pre-emption rights (Section 25 BauGB). The possibilities for issuing pre-emption right statutes will be examined by the city administration and submitted to the city council for resolution.

Component C - Cooperative development of residential areas

The City of Jena continues to rely on the commitment and involvement of private individuals in the development of building land. Strategy module C is based on the case that the areas to be developed are owned by third parties and, with modules C1 and C2, identifies two possibilities for cooperation with private parties in the development of building land.

C1 - Offer development plan

The city will develop and open up future supply development plans if the corresponding plots are acquired in full (100 percent of the development area).

The city applies the concept allocation (20/0482-BV) and the home ownership guidelines (22/1740-BV)when marketing these development sites.

On request, the city can guarantee former owners a pro rata right of retransfer of the developed building plots, in particular for the creation of owner-occupied housing or housing construction by existing owners, whereby the majority of the plots should be marketed using the concept allocation and/or owner-occupied housing guidelines. The retransfer takes place at the original purchase price plus the pro rata costs of the building land development.

C2 - Project-related development plan

The use of project-related development plans remains an important instrument for the provision of housing by third parties. The developer (housing company, private individual) is responsible for the development, construction and marketing of the housing project. By signing a project development agreement (see Annex 2 "Draft declaration of intent for project development" in the download area), the developer undertakes to recognize the principles of the "Jena Building Land Model Housing".

In future, a minimum rate of 30 percent for the creation of subsidized housing is to be regularly agreed with the project developer in the urban development contract, provided that there is a neighbourhood-related need and a corresponding urban prioritization has been made. For residential construction projects in the small-scale segment, the marketing of owner-occupied homes with a quota of at least 30% should be basedon the "Guideline for the criteria-based allocation of municipal owner-occupied home plots" (22/1740-BV) and be carried out in accordance with the allocation categories 1 and 2 (allocation based on social criteria and, in some cases, also taking into account the income situation of the applicant households) anchored therein. In addition, the project sponsor assures the assumption of costs and other expenses. Competitive procedures are regularly used to solve planning tasks and ensure urban development quality.

Component D - Mobilization of residential development areas with a transferred development plan

Residential development areas with transferred development plans (E-areas of the "Jena 2035 residential development area concept") represent a significant potential for the creation of housing in Jena. Building rights already exist here, but there are extensive obstacles to land mobilization. The potential building sites are generally spread across a large number of owners, some of whom are unwilling to cooperate or sell, and development is not secured.

In the transferred development plans, the city of Jena will press ahead with the development planning for undeveloped potential areas and ensure that they can be built on by means of - initially voluntary and subsequently sovereign - reallocation.

The resolution on the "Jena Residential Building Land Model" is a fundamental political resolution. It contains the general strategic goals and guiding principles of Jena's residential building land policy. The resolution formulated a series of test assignments for the content of the policy, which will be dealt with by an internal administrative working group in the subsequent implementation process.

The city of Jena is striving for an appropriate and fair distribution of building land development costs between the planning beneficiaries and itself. The planning beneficiary should participate in the costs and other expenses of building land development on a sustainable basis. Binding regulations on the content and scope of this participation will be drawn up by the city administration in a next step.

The basic political resolution also instructed the city administration to examine the extent to which the introduction of a revolving property fund would be expedient to secure the future financing of land purchases and developments. The income from building land development flows back into the fund assets and should be earmarked as far as possible for further land reserves and/or building land development.

As part of the application of the building land model, it may also be necessary to specify the content of the land policy instruments and develop them further in a tailored manner. The progress of the Jena building land model will be reported on from 2026.

1. what are the challenges in implementing the building land model?

A building land model can generally be an effective tool for creating affordable housing, but it requires a clear strategy, political support and a long-term land policy. The biggest challenges include the following aspects:

Land availability

The city of Jena has very little (residential) building land of its own and must first purchase it. Private owners often demand high prices or hold back some land in order to profit from rising values. In order to transform these speculative properties into future residential building land, the city of Jena is aiming to purchase land at an early stage and make greater use of pre-emptive rights (strategy component B). The long-term stockpiling of potential residential building land should give the city the opportunity to react to unrealistic price expectations and start development elsewhere.

Provision of subsidies

Social housing construction requires funding, which is not available to the required extent under the current "Directive on the Promotion of Affordable Housing in the Free State of Thuringia" (07/2023). Here, the city of Jena must exert influence on the Free State of Thuringia to provide attractive funding conditions and thus secure the creation of social housing.

Personnel and financial resources of the city

The successful implementation of the Jena building land model is associated with additional and intensified work tasks. The city's intensified acquisition policy and the city's management activities associated with Building Block C1 (planning, development and marketing of new residential construction sites) lead to a significantly increased need for financial and personnel capacities at the city's own enterprise KIJ. The same applies to the urban planning department as a result of the intensification in the implementation of planning procedures, for the preparation, conclusion and monitoring of urban development contracts, an ongoing review of appropriateness and for the drafting and enactment of pre-emption right statutes.

2. what significance does the Jena building land model have for private owners?

The building land model has a direct impact on private landowners, especially if they own land in potential building areas for residential development.

The "Jena 2035 residential development area concept" shows the residential development areas planned for Jena. These areas are therefore also shown as such in the land use plan. However, potential new building sites in outdoor areas (e.g. green or garden land) do not yet have building rights.

Development stages of building land

Until residential development is possible here, the area goes through various stages of development. Building rights are only created via a binding development plan. Once the decision to initiate the development plan has been made, "building land" is created. With the legally binding resolution on the development plan, the land is referred to as "raw building land". Only when the development is completed - i.e. the construction of roads and the laying of supply and disposal media - does "land ready for construction" come into being. With these development stages, the value of the land also changes significantly. This should be taken into account in the asking price.

Purchase of land by the city

If landowners wish to erect residential buildings on land without building rights today or for future generations, this will only be possible in future in cooperation with the city of Jena. The city will only draw up so-called offer development plans if it is in full ownership of the land required for the planned residential development area. The city therefore purchases the land proactively and as early as possible. To this end, it uses the municipal pre-emption right and issues pre-emption right statutes as required (Section 25 BauGB). The city checks with every (existing) owner who wants to build their own residential building whether the option of a pro rata retransfer of the building plots is a sensible offer. This type of cooperation enables the landowner to obtain land ready for construction with a high degree of planning security and largely without risk.

3. what advantages does the building land model offer project developers?

With strategy module C2, the Jena building land model enables residential building land development through cooperation with investors. The city works closely with the project developers (investors) to ensure that the city's urban development goals are achieved and the needs of the project are taken into account at the same time. The investors are responsible for the development, construction and, if necessary, marketing of the project. The city takes on a coordinating role.

Transparency and security

A central concern of the Jena building land model is to create a regulated framework for the negotiation of urban development contracts in accordance with Section 11 of the German Building Code (BauGB) and thus create transparency and security for all those involved in planning. The use of urban development contracts facilitates approval processes and ensures better calculability of costs, burdens and obligations. A comprehensible appropriateness test ensures that the services to be provided by the investors and the benefits arising for them from the development of the building land are in an appropriate relationship. Unjustified claims on the part of the city or the general public can be avoided and the financial burden on investors remains balanced.

4 Why does the city of Jena want to use reallocation procedures?

The residential development areas with the so-called transferred development plan already have building rights. According to the "Jena 2035 residential development area concept", this includes the E-areas, which have a not inconsiderable potential of 256 detached and semi-detached houses and 160 apartments in apartment buildings.

Mobilization of building plots

Due to a large number of landowners and a lack of willingness to cooperate or sell, mostly on the part of individual owners, the application of the interim acquisition model (building block C1) or the cooperative model (building block C2) is often not a realistic option. The city of Jena therefore sees the instrument of building land reallocation as an important way of providing and mobilizing building plots - for the construction of subsidized housing, but also for small-scale housing construction. The city of Jena's goal of providing sufficient living space can be made more difficult and delayed, but no longer fundamentally prevented, by the obstructionism of individual owners.

Implementation of legally binding development plans

Reallocation is a legally regulated land exchange procedure in which plots of land within a certain area are reorganized in order to enable appropriate building use. It thus serves to implement the legally binding development plan. The aim is to turn fragmented, unorganized plots of land into areas that are ready for construction with appropriate development (roads, paths, green spaces). After the reorganization, the owners receive an equivalent, but fully developed and ready-to-build plot of land.

Voluntary reallocation

The city first supports a voluntary reallocation in which the landowners agree on a voluntary reorganization through a simple exchange of land. If this is not successful, a sovereign (official) reallocation can be applied. The reallocation committee is responsible for this.