FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Many property owners in Hesse are shying away from investing in rental apartments, according to a survey. In a survey by the owner associations Haus und Grund Hessen and Haus und Grund Frankfurt, only 15 percent of participants said they planned to make further investments. About 60 percent ruled this out, it said in a statement published on Thursday. The most important hurdle was a lack of confidence in a "reliable housing policy."

The Building Energy Act (GEG), also known as the Heating Act, was cited as one example of deferred investment. A good three-quarters of private owners (78 percent) had so many unanswered questions about the GEG that they were postponing planned energy-efficiency renovations for the time being, it was said.

As the most important demand to the future housing policy after the federal state election in Hessen sees house and reason the bureaucracy dismantling. Thus according to the data 78 per cent of the asked ones favored the creation of additional dwelling by the development of roofs and the Aufstocken of buildings. However, only 14 percent felt that such projects are easy to plan and are quickly approved.

The results showed the need for action by policymakers, said Younes Frank Ehrhardt, managing director of Haus und Grund Hessen. "In Hessen more new building areas must be made available urgently and in particular by the lowering of the land transfer tax more citizens the dream of the home of one's own ermoglicht become."

The non-representative survey was conducted between July and September, with more than 2700 private owners and landlords taking part. The data was collected in an online survey by the Gewos Institute for Urban, Regional and Housing Research./als/DP/tih