Housing refugees in one of Hamburg's Mundsburg high-rises cost taxpayers roughly 7.9 million euros last year, with the city operator Fördern & Wohnen charging 8,510 euros per month for each of the 77 apartments used as public accommodation. An average of 336 refugees lived in the building in 2025, yielding per-person housing costs of 1,950 euros monthly — far above the citywide average of 1,260 euros.
The tower, purchased in early 2023, also contains 56 privately rented apartments generating an average of just 1,550 euros per month. Citywide, Hamburg spent 636 million euros on refugee accommodation last year, including 173 million on hotels.
Costs have begun to ease in the first half of 2026, with total spending falling to 265 million euros and average daily per-person costs dropping to roughly 37 euros. Around 40,000 people remained in public housing at the end of June, down from more than 42,000 at year-end.