A study commissioned by the ZIA Central Real Estate Committee from the IRE / BS International Real Estate Business School concludes that additional capacities of around 290,000 nursing home places would be necessary by 2030 to meet the increasing demand due to an increasingly ageing society. According to the analysis, 210 to 390 nursing homes would have to be built each year, but the nursing home places would also have to be affordable and practical. However, it is not only inpatient care that needs to be increased, but also outpatient care by promoting barrier-free living space, if people in their environment want to grow older and are dependent on help. It is precisely in some areas of Germany, such as the federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Hesse, that the problems are greatest due to shortages of fully inpatient care capacities. Here, Berlin leads the list with 34 percent of the increase in the number of people in need of full inpatient care. However, the construction of nursing homes is not a state responsibility, so private capital must be available. Demand for capacity is growing particularly in conurbations and very central locations. Private investment must be worthwhile, however, i.e. the land would have to be offered more cheaply and the homes would have larger bed capacities, at least that is what the calculations in the analysis showed. According to the analysis, a rise in the construction cost index, new standard energy specifications and stricter fire protection requirements, as well as greater land consumption, have a negative impact on the calculation. The authors of the study, therefore, call for a nationwide standardization of rules for the construction of nursing care properties, because the specifications are not uniform throughout Germany and vary from state to state. In Hamburg, for example, the rate of individual interest must be 100 percent, while many other states, such as Bremen, have different specifications.
