The previous plans could be brought back to the table if the federal government agreed on changes to building laws, the Social Democrat said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

Out of 60 projects that had been started at the time, 27 had been finished, so 33 were still open, she said.

“In my opinion, modular construction is something we must do,” Giffey said. “We can use them initially to house refugees, and in the future they could be flats for trainees or students. We urgently need these spaces.”

Modular construction means that prefabricated units, for example entire rooms, are assembled into flats on the building site. This simplifies and speeds up construction.