Housing conditions for foreigners have clearly improved since the end of 1985 in West-Germany. At that time about 15% of foreign households had no bathroom. This number fell to 2% in 1998. In addition to that the number of households without central heating fell to 16% which is a cut by half. Each foreigner has about 31 square meters at his disposal, three square meters more than in 1985.
In its weekly report 30/2001 the DIW Berlin points out that the gap between German households and foreign households has hardly closed. German households have living room totalling 46 square meters per person, which are seven more than in 1985. According to the DIW Berlin foreigners are at a disadvantage at the German housing market. This can be mainly attributed to the fact that they are foreigners. It also indicates that there is a specific foreigner-factor which is a breeding ground for discrimination.