The Simpson family urgently needs help: six children and no home!

The Simpson family urgently needs help: six children and no home!

In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the mountains are within reach, a Scottish family faces a tough challenge: The Simpson family is urgently looking for a new home. The lease for the house she has occupied since 2019 expires at the end of May 2026, and the landlord has already announced that the building will be demolished. As the family prepares for the birth of their youngest child in May 2026, the pressure to find a new place to live is growing.

Euan Simpson single-handedly renovated the house, which had been empty for years, but now the family with six children are looking for a new place to call home. Despite all efforts, from neighbors to finding empty houses, finding a place to live is a difficult undertaking. In a region where real estate prices are high, it is not easy for a family with many children to get a suitable rental agreement. The preference of many landlords is clear: applicants without children often have the better cards.

The challenge of finding accommodation

The Simpsons have been rooted in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for 14 years and, for understandable reasons, don't want to move far away from their childcare, school and friends. With all the stress of finding a new place to live by June 2026, they created a flyer to publicize their situation. Anyone renting an older house in the region that needs renovation should definitely contact the Tagblatt editorial team.

The dilemma is not new: The housing shortage in Garmisch-Partenkirchen not only affects families like the Simpsons, but also the local tourism industry. Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to the region every year, increasing pressure on already scarce living space. Local restaurants, like Kerstin Schumann-Ishizuka's 4Eck restaurant, are struggling to find staff due to a lack of affordable housing.

Tourism and its consequences

The hotel and hospitality industry is suffering from rising rent prices, which are making it difficult for employees to find living space. According to research by nag-bayern.de The number of beds in the region increased from 9,000 to around 13,000, while the number of holiday apartments grew from 3,400 to 6,300 (an increase of 86%). These changes also have an impact on utilization; average overnight stays are falling, while at the same time the demands for affordable housing are increasing.

The region's politics have only limited influence on the precarious housing situation. Many employers are trying to counteract this through rental agreements and building new apartments, but this is proving to be complicated. For example, Monika Erhardt, managing director of the Werdenfelserei Hotel, is planning to build a staff house, but is having great difficulty finding suitable land. Josef Ettenhuber has also built 18 apartments for his bus drivers, but is faced with high official requirements.

The question remains as to how Garmisch-Partenkirchen can exist both as an attractive tourist destination and as a livable place for locals. The situation is further exacerbated by rising rental prices in tourist hotspots. In addition, special regulatory options for holiday apartments are urgently needed in order to counteract a further increase in rental prices.

For the Simpsons and many others, it means keeping your eyes and ears open and hoping that a suitable opportunity for a new home in their beloved homeland will soon arise. Anyone who can help is asked to get in touch!