Number of building permits for apartments has risen significantly

For the first time in eight years, the number of housing permits in Berlin has risen again. (File photo)

The number of approved housing projects in Berlin has risen for the first time in eight years.

According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistical Office, authorities approved more than 13,750 residential construction projects in the capital in 2025. This represented a 40.7 percent increase over the previous year. 

More than 2,000 additional units planned in existing buildings

According to the data, nearly 10,800 of these apartments are to be built in new apartment buildings, including dormitories. More than 2,100 additional units are planned in existing buildings, for example through the conversion of attics or changes in building use. That is nearly 75 percent more than in the previous year.

Number of permits in Neukölln has quadrupled

The trend in the Neukölln district is particularly striking, where the number of approved residential construction projects quadrupled last year. According to statisticians, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf saw the sharpest decline, with a drop of 47.2 percent. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue this year. A key reason for the stagnation in housing construction in previous years was high construction costs. These rose again in February of this year for new residential construction and were 4.9 percent higher in Berlin than in the same month last year. Costs for structural work increased by 3.3 percent, while those for finishing work rose by 6.1 percent.