Economy

Study reveals racial discrimination in Germany's housing market

A new study by DeZIM shows that individuals with migration backgrounds face significant discrimination in Germany's housing market, leading to smaller, lower-quality living conditions.

Editor

Dec 09, 2025 - 02:07

Study reveals racial discrimination in Germany's housing market

WISE NEWS PRESS / BERLIN, GERMANY — DEC. 09, 2025

A new study has shed light on the pervasive impact of racism on the housing market in Germany, revealing that individuals with migration backgrounds face significantly lower chances of finding accommodation and often live in precarious conditions.

Conducted by the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), the study titled "Habitual Inequality: Racism and Living Conditions" analyzed data from approximately 9,000 interviews and official records between August 2024 and January 2025. A field experiment involving applications to real housing ads with different names but identical income levels further confirmed these findings.

Name-Based Discrimination

Researcher Tae Jun Kim highlighted that applicants with Middle Eastern or African names received fewer responses and invitations to view apartments compared to those with "German-sounding" names, despite having similar qualifications.

"There are signs of racist discrimination in the entire housing context," Kim stated. The study found that individuals racially categorized by society are less likely to own homes, live in smaller apartments on average, and reside in areas with poorer air quality and less green space.

Disparities in Living Space

The disparity is quantifiable: those vulnerable to discrimination have an average of 47 square meters and 1.3 rooms per person, whereas those not facing discrimination enjoy an average of 69 square meters and 1.9 rooms.

Additionally, discriminated groups reported feeling more pressure from housing costs and were more likely to have rental contracts with frequent increase clauses or limited terms.

Calls for Legal Reform

The research team proposed comprehensive policy changes, including a systematic increase in social housing and stricter regulations on index-linked rents. They also called for reforms to the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) to allow for more effective legal prosecution of housing discrimination.

Ferda Ataman, the Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination, supported these demands, emphasizing the need for legal changes that "really help people" and noting that discrimination in the housing market is "widespread".