Since 30 October 2025, the special planning provision known as the construction turbo has provided cities and municipalities with expanded options to noticeably streamline planning permission procedures. A monitoring project initiated by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building now provides initial detailed insights into practical implementation. The survey among around 400 participating municipalities reveals that the tools are already being widely used: in 72 per cent of these municipalities, corresponding schemes have already been negotiated, with more than half of the submitted applications receiving official approval.
Federal Building Minister Verena Hubertz stressed that schemes can be approved up to twenty times faster thanks to the special regulations compared to regular procedural routes. Between January and June 2026, approval was granted for a total of 7,892 residential units across the surveyed local authorities. Construction activity is primarily concentrated on multi-storey residential schemes: around 84 per cent of approved homes are located in multi-family buildings.
Strengthening brownfield development and preserving open spaces
The ministry's evaluations demonstrate that the simplified rules are not leading to uncontrolled urban sprawl on greenfield sites. Almost nine out of ten approved housing units are being built on land that is already developed. This includes established residential and commercial areas, conversion sites, vacant plots, and existing empty properties. Only around twelve per cent of the approved units are situated on previously green or agricultural land. Alongside new-build schemes, local authorities are increasingly using the regulation to deliver vertical extensions and functional conversions of existing buildings.
The process is supported by the ministry's implementation laboratory. In collaboration with the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, the German Institute of Urban Affairs, the Federal Association for Housing and Urban Development, and Forward Planung und Forschung GmbH, administrative hurdles are being analysed and practical guidance is being developed for public authorities. Thousands of municipalities have already participated in the corresponding exchange sessions.
Piloting in eight selected model municipalities
To further build on this momentum and structure knowledge transfer, the federal government is now involving eight selected model municipalities in in-depth accompanying research. These municipalities are drawing up guidelines for accelerating planning processes while safeguarding urban design quality:
- —Major cities with high development pressure such as Munich and Frankfurt am Main
- —Key regional centres such as Duisburg, Kiel and Trier
- —Medium-sized towns and commuter-belt municipalities such as Ratingen and Rüdersdorf near Berlin
- —Rural administrative areas such as the district of Nienburg (Weser)
The findings from this practical transfer and ongoing monitoring form the basis for the statutory evaluation of Section 246e of the German Building Code, which must be completed by 31 December 2029. In addition, the insights gathered are intended to feed directly into the future modernisation of general planning law.
