Vonovia expresses concern over Berlin housing expropriation plans
The corporate landlord says nationalising private apartments would be a legally questionable move to address the city's housing crisis.
Property giant Vonovia said on Wednesday that it is concerned about proposals from Berlin's potential new far-left city administration to seize apartments. According to the Economic Times, the Die Linke party won an election in the city-state in September and is currently negotiating with two other parties to form a government.
One campaign promise from Die Linke involves the expropriation of approximately 240,000 apartments held by large corporate landlords. The party has since agreed to reduce this target to 160,000 homes owned by groups with more than 10,000 properties during talks with the Greens and Social Democrats.
Vonovia CEO Luka Mucic told reporters during a third-quarter results conference call that the company is worried about the nationalisation of private housing. Mucic stated that such a move would be the wrong path and highly legally questionable, adding that increasing construction is the only way to meet the 1.4 million homes required for Germany's housing gap.
Under the current proposal, landlords would receive 16 billion euros in compensation, averaging 100,000 euros per apartment. Vonovia could receive an estimated 12bn euros, though the group says its Berlin holdings are worth approximately 20bn euros.
Vonovia Chief Financial Officer Philip Grosse noted that the expropriation discussions remain theoretical. He cited signals from the federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the project may be blocked.
At the end of October, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt presented a draft law that would mandate compensation at market value if housing is nationalised.