Faultline Faultline Kommando 161

Germany · labournet.de · · 55m

Vonovia: A problem that is getting bigger and bigger. The business model with rents

By labournet.de

Deutsch (original) · Auto-translated to English

dossier

Vonovia sucks“«We are part of the solution,” claims Vonovia in its 2021 annual report published on March 18, 2022. It was “the most successful year in our company’s history,” announced Vonovia boss Rolf Buch when presenting the results. Economic success is the basis for assuming future responsibility for housing supply and climate protection. The platform of critical real estate shareholders sees it differently. The business model, which is geared towards aggressive growth and efficient rent collection for the benefit of financial investors, becomes a bigger problem for social and ecological housing provision with every takeover. The high profit distribution – 1.3 billion euros proposed by the board – is less justified than ever before. In this text we will focus in particular on rent collection and concentrate on the current annual report.” Brochure by Knut Unger –Information and free download from the RLS externer Link, see:

  • Vonovia smoke detector: Two judgments, one clear message - don't accept the Multisensor PlusNew
    Vonovia wants to replace functional smoke detectors with Techem “Multisensor Plus” and sell this as a modernization: toleration plus a rent increase. This is not a security upgrade, but an expensive additional device with CO, air conditioning and remote inspection functions - in apartments often without gas, but with monitoring options.

  • Action week “Viva la Musica – expropriated Vonovia” of the Lebenslaute from August 1st to 8th in Bochum with concerts and a demonstration
    “This weekend a larger rehearsal for the Lebenslaute group's action week took place from August 1st to 8th in the Ruhr area - especially in Bochum. The motto of the campaign is “Viva la musica – expropriated Vonovia.” As a local group, Attac Bochum supports the campaign…”Report from June 21, 2026 at bo-alternative externer Link(“Sounds of life in August in Bochum: With drums and trumpets for the human right to housing” – seein the Sounds of Life project externer Linkall information about the concert on Friday August 7th, 2026 from 7:00 p.m. in the Bochum Art Museum (Kortumstraße 147 in 44777 Bochum) and musical protest marches through Bochum city center on Saturday August 8th, 2026 with a final concert with a rally at 12 p.m. at Husemannplatz. Unfortunately new:

    • Open-air concert: Viva la musica – expropriated Vonovia!
      “The city of Bochum's cancellation of the "Lebenslaute" concert planned at the art museum has given the happening a real boost in popularity this evening. A good 200 spectators listened to the sounds of the orchestra, which played works from Joseph Haydn to Clara Schumann and Bertolt Brecht to “Excavator Willibald” by Dieter Süverkrüp, not in but next to the art museum.There were also up-to-date texts about the housing shortage and the role of large corporations like Vonovia. There were many critical words that the city of Bochum would certainly have described as “slander”. Their role in suppressing artistic freedom attracted some critical comment. After a welcome song from the Bochum choir “Chorrosion” and an hour-long Lebenslaute concert, there was a standing ovation from the audience.”Report from August 7th, 2026 at bo-Alternative externer Linkwith 2 photos and also:

    • Before the concert on Friday and protest on Saturday: Musicians from the “Lebenslaute” initiative playfully blocked the entrance to the Vonovia headquarters on Thursday morning

      • After protest concert banned: musicians block Vonovia headquarters
        “This morning a music group protested in front of the Vonovia headquarters in Bochum. It's about a concert that the city has banned.
        In Bochum, around 90 musicians blocked access to Vonovia's headquarters early in the morning. The “Lebenslaute” initiative, which combines classical music with political topics, wants to protest against the company’s housing policy. “We advocate that residential property be managed locally or jointly,” said Katinka Poensgen from the initiative on the sidelines of the protests. (…) The music initiative wants to play in front of the museum tomorrow instead. For them, companies like Vonovia are responsible for problems such as housing shortages and rising rents. "There are more and more people who are becoming impoverished because they can no longer afford the rent. While shareholders at Vonovia are ripping them off," criticizes Katinka Poensgen from the music initiative on the sidelines of the protests in front of Vonovia's headquarters. (…) At around 10 a.m. the blockade in front of the Vonovia headquarters was ended.        “WDR report from August 6th, 2026 externer Link
      • Protest orchestra blocks entrances to the Vonovia headquarters in Bochum
        “A protest by the Lebenslaute network took place in front of the Vonovia headquarters in Bochum on Thursday morning (August 6). Around 90 musicians blocked the entrances and played music on site. (…) When asked, a police spokesman stated that the action had not been registered. The protest is said to have been peaceful. According to police, the protest broke up in the morning. Several actions have been announced in Bochum these days under the motto “Viva la musica – expropriated Vonovia”..”Post from August 6th, 2026 on radiobochum.de externer Link
      • Entrances to the Vonovia headquarters blocked
        “The music and action group “Lelebenslaute” has been welcoming employees and visitors to the Vonovia headquarters on Universitätsstrasse with concerts since 6 a.m. this morning. The main entrances to the Vonovia building were occupied. (…)
        Lebenslaute combines classical music with political action and plays in places where injustice originates. The headquarters of Europe's largest real estate group is one such place.
        Today's concert includes, among other things: classical works by Clara Schumann, Florence Price and Joseph Haydn as well as music from Kurt Weill to the excavator operator Willibald. "Vonovia turns living space into an investment property. The group engages in speculation, rent-seeking, luxury renovations and the displacement of tenants - with the sole aim of increasing shareholders' profits," says spokeswoman Viola Forte. Affordable housing is now the most urgent social issue in Germany. (…)
        2026: Over a million people are homeless or homeless, including 260,000 children and young people. With 470,000 apartments, Vonovia is a central player in this development. The exploitation of tenants is part of the business model. To protect this, Vonovia is active in 16 lobby associations and invests millions in lobbying. With success: The government coalition wants to prohibit the states from applying Article 15 of the Basic Law. In doing so, it is openly siding with financial and real estate groups instead of with tenants. This policy must end. We demand: cap rents, preserve social housing, stop speculation and apply the Basic Law        .”  Lebenslaute communication from August 6, 2026 documented at bo-alternative externer Link
      • A ticker including photos of the campaign is available from Lebenslaute at @lebenslaute@tldr.nettime.org
    • City of Bochum prevents concert on August 7th in the art museum because of criticism of Vonovia: Lebenslaute plays “that’s why before” – musical protest through the city center is still allowed on Saturday…

      • Viva la Musica – Vonovia expropriates! Rally over the banned concert takes place next to the art museum
        “On Friday, August 7th, the Lebenslaute initiative invites you to a rally at 7 p.m. under the motto “Viva la Musica – expropriated Vonovia”. The location is Goetheplatz next to the art museum. The pieces of music are framed with texts that explain the motto in more detail. The city of Bochum had forbidden the performance - as originally agreed - to take place in the museum.”Report from July 30, 2026 at bo-alternative externer Linkand sounds of life:
      • City of Bochum prevents concert in the art museum because of criticism of Vonovia: Lebenslaute speaks of political interference in artistic freedom anddemands opinion from the city council
        “According to the political orchestra Lebenslaute, the planned concert “Viva la Musica – expropriated Vonovia” in the Bochum Art Museum cannot take place as planned. A concert was planned with classical music and speeches on the housing shortage, displacement and the business model of large real estate companies. After Vonovia was mentioned as an example in the event announcement, the room reservation that had already been made was canceled. The reason given is a letter from the Bochum Art Museum: "Your assurance that criminal regulations will not be violated is incomprehensible to us if you continue to mention the name of the Vonovia housing construction company." It goes on to say: “It cannot be ruled out that your statements constitute slander and libel.” Lebenslaute firmly rejects this assumption. From the orchestra's point of view, a public criticism of Vonovia's business practices that has been going on for years is becoming close to a criminal offense. The discussion about rent policy, housing shortages and the role of large housing companies is part of the public debate and must not be pushed out of the cultural scene in a democratic society. “If a concert about the housing shortage is not allowed to take place because a profit-oriented real estate group could feel disturbed, that shows how great the influence of such companies now is,” explains Viola Forte from Lebenslaute. “The city of Bochum is thus making itself a vicarious agent of economic interests.” Here, under political pressure, an unpleasant critical cultural contribution is prevented.The fact that simply naming a billion-dollar corporation is enough to force an event out of a public cultural space is a serious infringement on freedom of expression and artistic freedom. (…)
        The letter addressed to Lebenslaute with the quoted passages is signed by the museum director Noor Mertens. However, in the preliminary discussion on July 23, 2026, Bochum's head of cultural affairs, Dietmar Dieckmann, played the decisive role. Lebenslaute sees clear evidence that he, as a representative of the city, exerted pressure on the art museum. Lebenslaute sees the fact that artistic freedom is restricted in an art museum of all places as a political scandal. The incident is another example of how public space and constitutionally protected freedoms come under pressure when economically powerful actors are criticized. Life Sounds demands:
        – Art freedom in the Bochum Art Museum
        – holding the concert without political censorship
        – an immediate public statement from the Bochum City Council on this matter…”Press release from July 29, 2026 on the homepage of lebenslaute.net externer Link
      • See bo-alternativeThe letter from the city to the organizers of Lebenslaute externer Link
      • Diekmann, head of the cultural department, wants to censor culture: the city of Bochum bans a concert in the art museum because of criticism of Vonovia
        “According to the political orchestra Lebenslaute, the planned concert “Viva la Musica – expropriated Vonovia” on August 7th in the Bochum Art Museum cannot take place as planned. A concert was planned with classical music and speeches on the housing shortage, displacement and the business model of large real estate companies. After Vonovia was mentioned as an example in the event announcement, the already confirmed reservation was canceled. The museum had already announced the concert on its website…”Report from July 30, 2026 at bo-alternative externer Link
  • Vonovia: 166 euros per rental apartment goes into the dividend
    “Vonovia creates added value – for shareholders. This has consequences for tenants and for society as a whole.
    Vonovia is distributing one billion euros to its shareholders this year. The tenants of the group's almost 500,000 apartments in Germany pay this: 166 euros every month. This also means that the rent from Vonovia could be an average of 166 euros cheaper per month if no third parties enriched themselves…”Article by Lara Schulschenk from May 28, 2026 in Surplus magazine externer Link
  • Tenant tribunal against LEG, Vonovia & Co. at the shareholder meetings on May 21st in Bochum (Vonovia) and on May 27th, 2026 in Düsseldorf (LEG)
    “…Around 20 years ago, almost all of Witten's industrial company housing, the state-owned Ruhr-Lippe housing company and many municipal houses were sold to financial investors and recyclers.  They burdened the long-paid off apartments with high debts and then went public. The consequences: The once cheap apartments are now used by Vonovia and LEG to drive up rents and skim them off for high dividends and interest.
    A significant portion of the housing stock that was in need of renovation 20 years ago has not been renovated since then. Another part was “modernized,” resulting in sharp rent increases. A third part was privatized individually or resold to other speculators. The proportion of socially managed rental apartments has shrunk radically. There is currently a lack of funding for the urgently needed new social development and restructuring. For the tenants this means:
    INCREASES AND DISPLACEMENT: LEG, Vonovia & Co. increase rents almost every year up to the legally permissible maximum and beyond. When re-letting, they charge up to 40% more than what is stated in the rent index.
    ADDITIONAL COSTS EXPLOSION: The corporations write a large part of the bills for energy, heating, garden maintenance or “caretaker” themselves. They dictate the prices and the often inadequate services.  They try to systematically circumvent the tenants' inspection rights.
    NEGLECT: The owners and management are often unavailable. They give inadequate attention to repairs, waste management and neighborhood problems.  Elevators and heaters break down again and again. Many apartments are poorly insulated and infested with mold.
    The Witten tenants' association fought the wave of sell-outs from the start. He organizes the tenants to defend themselves against the consequences. He has also developed methods that are similar to those of the trade unions    …”Invitation from May 1, 2026 to the tenants' association in Witten and surrounding areas. e.V. externer Link(“Tenants sue: This is how we defend ourselves against LEG, Vonovia & Co.”) with information about the “tribunal” on May 20, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the Ardeyhotel in Witten and also about the shareholder meetings

  • “30 hours of work per week”: A Vonovia tenant has to fight for her rights again and again for ten years. Now she invoices the company for this working time
    In theInterview by Clara Dünkler in the taz online on November 26, 2025 externer LinkVonovia tenant Leila von der Spree [stage name] explains how she received compensation of 500 euros:"... Just three months after I moved in, I had to send the first complaint emails. It was about dilapidated heating systems. Since then, there have been countless other issues, such as mold, pest infestation, neglect in the yard, incorrect energy value and rent increases. Then you have to check and calculate the stupid utility bill because it is actually always wrong. It's an awful lot of work and you sit there for a lot of hours. You have to familiarize yourself with issues that you don't even have to deal with (…) I had an AI calculate how much time was spent in the last two years alone. I then calculated the result at an hourly wage of 100 euros - nothing compared to what the Vonovia lawyers earn. At the same time, I have a lawyer check whether there is a way to reduce the working hours and the damage to our health (…) What Vonovia does is called cold, minimal compliance. Compliance is practically a company's code of conduct. In this case, Vonovia does as little as possible for the tenants, but cheats more and more. And there are no political and legal means to combat it, because they work on the sidelines of the law and, if necessary, withdraw we have to fill jobs practically for free, while Vonovia employs a whole armada of highly paid lawyers.(…) If we had done nothing, our rents would have been twice as high, our apartments would have fallen into disrepair and, like so many others, we would have long since been evicted from our apartments and our neighborhood. Many people now see only one solution – regardless of their political stance: socialize…”
  • Vonovia: Smart detectors, higher rents. Real estate giant Vonovia is now installing controversial high-tech smoke detectors in Berlin apartments
    "We fundamentally reject the new smoke alarms," says Jasmina Rühl from the Berlin Alliance against Vonovia in an interview with "nd". It has been observed since the beginning of July that Vonovia is installing the "Multisensor Plus" in apartments in Berlin. In a modernization announcement, which is available to "nd", the company explains: The Multisensor Plus is an "innovative smoke alarm" that improves safety and offers optional comfort functions for a better indoor climate. What Vonovia seen as an improvement in the quality of living, but has long been the subject of criticism: The new smoke detector not only sounds an alarm when there is a fire, but can also record and forward a lot of data. The device has already been described as a “spy in the bedroom”. The detectors can send data via radio to a “gateway” in the hallway The data collected could be used against them. "Using data on air humidity, Vonovia could then claim, for example, that if there is mold in an apartment, it is your fault as a tenant," says Rühl to "nd." Spy smoke detectors.« The tenancy rights activist has further concerns: The CO2 values could theoretically be used to determine how often someone cooks, showers or when they are at home.Another concern that Rühl has is that the detectors could be hacked and, for example, it could be determined when tenants are at home. "It's shocking how Vonovia intervenes in the lives of normal tenants," she says. (…) Commercially available detectors without additional digital functions are significantly cheaper than the Multisensor Plus. If Vonovia only had normal smoke detectors installed, it would be a maintenance measure that the company would have to bear the costs for alone. However, the company counts the installation of the high-tech alarms as a modernization measure that can be passed on to the rent. (…) The costs for this add up. If, for example, six smoke detectors are installed, as in an "nd" modernization announcement, this results in a monthly amount of 4.31 euros after deducting the maintenance portion, plus 1.76 euros in additional operating costs. You could say peanuts. However, the Hamburg tenants' association has calculated additional rental income of 16 million euros per year for Vonovia's entire housing stock with an investment volume of 200 million euros. (…) “Smoke detectors are a means of fire protection, you don’t need all the other functions.” Left-wing politician Schenker sees it similarly: “A normal smoke detector is completely sufficient. The company is trying to use all its tricks to increase the rent." Article by David Rojas Kienzle from July 30, 2025 in Neues Deutschland online externer Link
  • Vonovia in Herne-Holsterhausen and smoke detectors: Tenants refuse
    “This morning some tenants protested against Vonovia's renewed attempt to install unnecessary, overpriced and monitoring smoke detectors.The experiences on Bunsenstrasse were different: there were entire houses in which everyone refused to install. In other houses, only a few had the smoke detectors replaced. In a few houses, most or all of them.The resistance continues! Also with the tenants who were put under undue pressure by Vonovia because of alleged penalties that they would have to pay if they did not open the door.”Report from April 25, 2025 at “Vanovia tenant Herne-Holsterhausen” externer Link– see background information below
  • Vonovia is a rent driver with dubious methods - and can (that's why?) drastically increase its dividend despite losses
    • The stock market day: Vonovia reports a loss – and significantly increases its dividend
      “Vonovia wants to pay out a significantly higher dividend for the past financial year after the Bochum-based residential real estate group achieved important key figures at the upper end of the target range. The bottom line is that Vonovia significantly reduced its loss thanks to better portfolio valuations, but was still in the red contrary to expectations of a small profit…”Report from March 19, 2025 on n-tv externer Link– the stock market press is even more excited
    • Vonovia: rent drivers using dubious methods
      “Vonovia SE will publish its annual report for 2024 on March 19th. Figures on increased rental income and the positive prospects for the expansion of additional services can be expected. The Board of Directors will probably propose an increased dividend distribution. On this occasion, the nationwide tenants' alliance VoNO!via & Co. and the platform of critical real estate shareholders took a closer look at the main drivers of the group's growth: rents and additional costs. They come to the conclusion: Europe's largest landlord is systematically driving up housing costs. In cities with large Vonovia housing stocks, it is increasingly becoming a burden on the affordable housing supply.
      As a listed rental company, Vonovia is interested in increasing rents. What is remarkable is how systematic, professional and “creative” she goes about it. (…)Through its methods, Vonovia drives up the rent level for all tenants and probably demands higher contributions than it would be entitled to if the actual corporate costs were passed on. All tenants and the public sector pay the price. The tenants' alliance is calling on local, federal and state governments to systematically review Vonovia rents. If the Union and the SPD do not agree on and then implement stricter rent controls in the coalition negotiations, Vonovia & Co. will make renters, but also public budgets, increasingly poorer.”Press release from March 18, 2025 from the tenants' alliance NoVanovia externer Link
  • LEG: Dividend gifts at the expense of tenants - the liberation of apartments from the stock market through public control and socialization is becoming more and more urgent
    “Today LEG Immobilien SE published its annual report for 2024. Despite major problems in managing and maintaining the properties, the board is proposing to increase the dividend payout by 11 percent.  Once again it is paid for by the tenants.  In the privately financed housing stock, LEG increased the rental income, adjusted for changes in inventory, by an average of 4 percent within one year. That is far more than the increase in the federal rent index. According to the board's dividend proposal, 21 cents of every euro of rent will go towards the dividend distribution. At this value, the earnings contributions from intra-group billing and services have already been deducted. However, these internal transactions are often at the expense of the tenants…”Report from March 10, 2025 from the platform of critical real estate shareholders externer Link(“LEG: Dividend gifts at the expense of the tenants”)
  • [2025 Annual General Meetings of Deutsche Wohnen SE and Vonovia SE on January 23rd/24th] Vonovia is growing. The unreasonable demands on the tenants too – and the protests against them
    • Vonovia is growing. The unreasonable demands on the tenants too
      “On January 23rd and 24th, Deutsche Wohnen SE and Vonovia SE will each hold an extraordinary general meeting to seal the incorporation of Deutsche Wohnen's approximately 140,000 apartments into Vonovia. This means that Vonovia finally has control over around 480,000 apartments in Germany. For tenants, the merger of the two companies means getting the worst of both worlds. Tenant representatives and company critics are therefore organizing a small protest action in front of the Vonovia building in Bochum on January 24th from 9 a.m. The general meeting also takes place there. (…)
      "Almost half a million apartments in the hands of a corporation is an unreasonable concentration of power. Municipalities and suppliers become vulnerable to blackmail. The corporation accumulates gigantic tenant data and makes enormous profits through scaling effects. (...) Deutsche Wohnen holds 49 percent of the shares in the heat supplier G&D. This company supplies almost all of the portfolios with heat or gas. In recent years, in some of the portfolios, this has meant horror bills for tenants with additional payments in the four-digit range. (…)
      "For heating and all additional costs, Vonovia must provide evidence of the Group's actual procurement costs. In our opinion, self-receipts issued by subsidiaries are inadmissible. More and more tenants are therefore withholding additional claims. But not only the tenants, but also the shareholders are withheld the costs that can actually be allocated. (...)
      If Vonovia were legally treated like a normal house buyer, it would have to pay real estate transfer tax due to the complete takeover of Deutsche Wohnen. By spinning off 20 percent of the Deutsche Wohnen shares into a joint venture between Vonovia and the financial investor Apollo, she avoided the tax. As a result, the state of Berlin alone is missing out on over a billion euros in revenue. “The huge tax loophole must finally be effectively plugged. (…)
      Tenants talk about their experiences. They are desperate, scared, angry - but they won't give up      …”Joint press release dated January 22, 2025 externer Linkof the German Tenants' Association NRW, the tenants' alliance VoNO!via & Co., the umbrella association of critical shareholders and the platform of critical real estate shareholders on the general meetings of Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia on January 23rd and 24th, 2025, see also the platform of critical real estate shareholders:
    • Absolute Vonovia rule: This is what threatens us now!
      “After Vonovia has completely controlled Deutsche Wohnen, the group plans to further expand and intensify its financial-industrial model. This is what he announced, among other things, when presenting his results for the third quarter of 2024…”Article from January 22, 2025 at mieteraktionärin.de externer Link
    • Proposals for Vonovia’s disempowerment
      “According to the platform of critical real estate shareholders, Vonovia's developments and further plans show that the legislature urgently needs to take action to curb the power of this and other housing groups and to use the existing housing and productive forces for the common good…”Article from January 22, 2025 at mieteraktionärin.de externer Link
    • There is a protest action before the start of the general meeting:
      Time: Friday, January 24th, 2025, 9-10 a.m
      Location: In front of the Vonovia headquarters, Universitätsstraße 133 in Bochum
  • "Vanovia goes beyond the limits of what is permitted": In North Rhine-Westphalia, the residential group Vonovia is installing digital smoke detectors - the data protection and financial costs are borne by tenants
    Interview by David Bieber from January 14, 2025 in Neues Deutschland online externer Linkwith Hans-Jochem Witzke from the German Tenants' Association NRW, who reports on Vonovia's cheeky actions:"Smoke detectors have to be changed after ten years. Most landlords install modern smoke detectors without a lot of bells and whistles. Vonovia wants to equip their properties with so-called Multisensor Plus devices. They have expanded functions. Vonovia argues that this is a modernization and that the costs of the 136 euro devices can be passed on to the tenants. The second annoyance is that the devices are very data-hungry. With clever evaluation, it can be found out how many people are there when the apartment is ventilated and in which rooms someone sleeps. Vonovia, not the tenant (…) Vonovia installed the smoke detectors by the beginning of November and said that tenants who do not want the radio function can turn them off themselves - after working through 20 pages of operating instructions, Vonovia indirectly admits that they acted unlawfully until the beginning of November. Can the function be activated remotely? Who guarantees that the devices really do not transmit any data? The tenants no longer trust the company and I can understand that. (…) We expect a lot of lawsuits from those affected. The annoying thing about this case is that Vonovia is arguing for improved living standards and security for the tenants.But people don't want to have the devices hanging on the ceiling and have to pay for it. That is probably the actual reason for the measure: to burden the tenants with more and more services in order to achieve more and more profits with such side businesses - ideally with the company's own contractors. –See initial information about smoke detectors below:
  • Vonovia as builder and spy: Real estate company increases earnings and relies on new construction again. He also uses smoke detectors to peek
    "Tenants make landlords rich. A lousy loss for those who have to fork out for their accommodation every month. They often spend a third or more of their income on rent. And it doesn't get any cheaper either: the bosses of Germany's largest private real estate company Vonovia increased the prices for the approximately 480,000 rental apartments by an average of 3.8 percent in the first nine months, according to Business Insider on Friday. Previously, Tagesschau.de and the Handelsblatt Furthermore, the headquarters around CEO Rolf Buch continues to sell less lucrative residential properties: “We have already exceeded our sales target.” Vonovia confirms its forecast for the current financial year: Buch expects the adjusted operating result (Ebitda) to be at the upper end of the range between 2.55 and 2.65 billion euros Billion euros. Ebitda is expected to increase by 30 percent by 2028. Vonovia will therefore resume its new construction program in areas such as Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg. Overall, Buch sees “potential for 70,000 new apartments” through densification and additions for energy sources. But now it is said that the real estate crisis has been overcome. Book: “Now we are stepping on the gas again.” (…) There will probably only be one thing in store for tenants: a further increase in housing costs. And there is something else to come.“Spy smoke detectors,” said the Baden-Württemberg regional association of the German Tenants’ Association (DMB) on Thursday. Tenants in Ulm, Konstanz, Heidenheim and the Stuttgart region are affected. According to the tenancy lawyers, the devices not only warn of smoke development, which is their job. They also collect data about the indoor climate, such as temperature and humidity, and send this regularly to the group's data processing systems. An invasion of privacy, a look through the keyhole, so to speak. The special villainous thing about it: Because the “expensive high-tech detectors” would improve the value of living, “the costs are passed on to the tenants,” criticized Winfried Kropp, a member of the DMB state board. Residents should object to such a “construction measure”…” Article by Jens Walter in the Junge Welt from November 11, 2024 externer Link
  • More rent for the dividend: Strengthened by the sale of 4,500 apartments, Vonovia is aiming for even higher rents
    "... In March 2024, Vonovia had given a bad public image due to high real estate devaluations. Vonovia is trying to correct the image just in time for the general meeting on May 8, 2024. In doing so, you are playing into the cards that the state of Berlin will secure its endangered liquidity with an apartment buyback worth 700 million euros. Vonovia wants to invest more in profit-increasing modernizations again in the course of 2024. The It promises investors a large increase in dividends. In return, the state should forego restrictions on rent increases. “We know that our debt is too high for the current interest rate situation,” said Vonovia boss Rolf Buch to analysts in the summer of 2023. It will take years until Vonovia’s “debt story” becomes an “equity story” again (…) as the interim report for the first quarter In 2024, Vonovia boss Buch found completely different words: "The bottom in performance is practically tangible. We expect to complete the stabilization phase this year. We want to switch back to growth by 2025 at the latest and concentrate on increasing our earnings." How can the change in April 2024 be explained? Firstly, the 2024 Annual General Meeting was imminent. Traditionally, this is an appointment at which profit expectations are to be conveyed to shareholders and a positive image to the public. (…) Secondly, Vonovia’s financial engineering department actually worked hard.It has early replaced several corporate bonds that are due to expire in the foreseeable future due to fears of even higher interest rates later, and has been able to launch three large new corporate bonds in the last few months. (…) Thirdly, Vonovia managed to sell a large apartment package shortly before the general meeting. At the end of April 2024, the state of Berlin acquired 4,500 prefabricated apartments from Vonovia through its state-owned housing companies for a price of 700 million euros. According to Vonovia, the book value is 698 million euros. The group celebrates this sale as confirmation of its fictitious valuation. However, this is the book value after devaluation as of December 31, 2023. Before this date, Vonovia would have had to charge around 14 percent more in order not to make a loss in the balance sheet. The purchase is therefore not a confirmation of Vonovia's original valuation, but rather that the group had significantly overestimated the value of its apartments. (…) And fourthly, the rent increases expected by Vonovia have risen again - despite the extended rent cap! In the 2023 financial year, Vonovia's rents rose by 3.8 percent, just as in the last twelve months, but in Germany only by 3.3 percent (...). Nevertheless, this rate of increase is well above the national rental price index (…). Vonovia promises its investors that it will be able to raise rents significantly more this year than expected in March 2024. This assessment also forms the most important basis for promising an increase in “dividend capacity” to 1 billion euros. That would be 36 percent more than this year.(…) In a nutshell, the housing group’s central message is: “Tenants should pay both the dividends and the debt restructuring and crisis strategies.” In this logic, restrictions on rent increases must of course be weakened on the one hand and, on the other hand, more subsidies must flow to lower-income households. The biggest risk for Vonovia’s business model remains that at some point residents will no longer be able to pay the rising rents and additional costs and therefore no longer want to pay on time.” Episode 2 of “CASH IS KING – Understanding Vonovia and Co.” by Knut Unger from May 6, 2024 at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation externer Link
  • Burning castles in the air: Why Vonovia, LEG and Co. write off billions and still pay high dividends
    “For ten years, real estate values ​​in the financial investment industry only knew one direction: upwards. Then the interest rate turnaround came in mid-2022. As a result, the large listed housing groups also had to devalue their properties in Germany by many billions. Debt-financed business models that bet on the fictitious book values ​​being realized soon have started to falter. Long-term oriented “rent skimming companies” such as Vonovia and LEG are pulling out all the stops to emerge from this crisis as winners. It is quite possible that they will initially be successful. But at what cost? (…)
    All in all, the eight listed real estate groups active on the German housing market made a net loss of almost 15.5 billion euros. Your almost 920,000 apartments in Germany were devalued by almost 18 billion euros in 2023 and then still had a fair value of 122 billion euros.
    The rise and fall of real estate values
    The most important reason for this development: Over the past twenty years, and especially during the period of low interest rates (until mid-2022), the financialized housing groups have continually increased their fictitious property values. Because of the increased interest rates, these exaggerated expectations are now being trimmed again. (…) Corporations like Vonovia & Co. have enough resources to bridge the next few years. But they also have to postpone investments. Although interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank are to be expected, it will hardly be as paradisiacal as in previous years for incurring debt. It is questionable whether the investment deferrals that have now been initiated in existing housing and new construction can ever be made up again. Only one thing is certain: rents will continue to rise. The real estate values ​​are actually just castles in the air. But it is also true that if they burn, homes, jobs and financial security are in real danger.” A series by Knut Unger on the situation of the financialized housing industry,Part 1 from April 30, 2024 externer Linkat the RLS
  • Annual general meetings of Vonovia SE and LEG Immobilien SE between May 17 and 21, 2023 will provoke numerous protests, demonstrations and days of action
    “Critical shareholders and affected tenants will draw attention to the numerous failures and grievances in the housing estates of the ailing companies on May 17, 2023 at the simultaneous annual general meetings of Vonovia SE (virtually) and LEG Immobilien SE (in person in Düsseldorf). Those affected by skyrocketing heating costs, rent increases and housing neglect will make specific allegations and demands. We will critically examine the scope, causes and effects of the current corporate crises.  It is also about fundamental alternatives for listed housing groups. Your financial crisis must not be passed on again to tenants, those looking for accommodation and the municipalities!
    ForTuesday, May 16th, 1 p.m. we invite you to a joint online press conference of the VoNo!via & Co - tenants' alliance and the platform of critical real estate shareholders. This is about our critical view of the corporations' business models and their current crisis strategies, but above all also about the concrete experiences of Vonovia and LEG tenants from different cities. The conference is open to anyone interested in attending (please register). The first rounds of questions are reserved for journalists.
    On Wednesday, May 17thFrom 9 a.m. we will take part in a rally/vigil in front of the “Maritim” hotel near Düsseldorf Airport for the LEG general meeting taking place there…” Information from tenantAKTIONärIN – platform for critical real estate shareholders externer Link, see:

  • Turning point at Vonovia? Initiate the exit from financialization! 
    “For years, the platform of critical real estate shareholders has been demanding that Vonovia reduce dividends and invest in good, affordable housing instead of speculative growth. The halving of the dividend distribution now proposed by the Vonovia board has nothing to do with this. It serves to create more “capital discipline” in order to save the existing extractive business model under the conditions of temporarily ended expansion and increased interest rates. In fact, Vonovia is relying more than ever on rising rents and wants to significantly reduce investments in the housing stock. The saved distribution and real estate sales are intended to provide the necessary liquidity for the upcoming redemption of unsecured bonds.The reduction in the dividend is also a consequence of the fact that the sales plans announced last summer as a response to the crisis have so far been difficult to implement. Now “municipalizations” are supposed to bring salvation to social democratically governed municipalities suffering from housing shortages. According to Vonovia CEO Buch, there are concrete negotiations with seven municipalities. In the long term, Vonovia hopes to receive more public subsidies for climate protection. Last year it was able to secure a loan of 600 million euros from the European Investment Bank.The survival of Vonovia's financial market-oriented business model is apparently increasingly dependent on additional public funds. Wouldn't it make more political sense to take the company off the stock exchange and transfer its real estate and means of production into the public sector for compensation well below the unstable speculative market values? An assessment of theVonovia SE’s 2022 annual report externer Link and to the published oneAnalyst presentation externer Link …”Contribution by Knut Unger from March 18, 2022 in mieterAKTIONärIn.de externer Linkthe platform of critical real estate shareholders
  • VoNO!via tenants' alliance: Tenants are the real victims - and Vonovia can look back on a very successful 2022 financial year 
    “The Vonovia Group presents itself as the main victim in the corruption allegations in connection with searches of 40 locations including the Vonovia headquarters in Bochum and the execution of four arrest warrants on March 7, 2023. The VoNO!via tenants' alliance states: In fact, the tenants are the real victims. Because: Excessive invoices for tradesman services commissioned by the Vonovia Group are in most cases passed on to the tenants through modernization rent increases and operating cost bills.
    The tenant organizations that form the VoNO!via tenants' alliance have been criticizing the group's non-transparent actions, which are often riddled with legal and factual false statements, for years. In connection with the ongoing investigations, the billing for construction services is the focus of interest. According to media reports, corrupt employees of Vonovia subsidiaries are said to have manipulated service specifications in order to enable the beneficiary external construction companies to inflate invoices. It can be assumed that the investigations concern the subsidiaries Vonovia Modernes GmbH and/or Vonovia Engineering GmbH. In any case, the overwhelming number - recently almost all - of the modernization cost receipts presented to tenants come from these subsidiaries. The work is often carried out by external contractors. However, the tenants never see their invoices and proof of performance. This means that tenants cannot compare the services billed by the executing companies with the services actually provided. Vonovia's modernization invoices show further deficiencies. With proper construction accounting, they should not occur and allow for a lot of misuse:

    • In no case known to us have building inspections been documented. Tenants did not notice any technical inspections, e.g. after window installation. The invoices from Vonovia Engineering GmbH also do not contain any inspection notes.
    • In no case known to us has Vonovia provided evidence of actual payment of the amounts invoiced to the bank accounts specified in the invoices.
    • According to Vonovia, their high additional construction costs are billed according to the fee schedule for architects and engineers. Then it would have to be able to present a verifiable final invoice from the architects and engineers. This would include the examination of the actual provision of services, construction acceptance, etc. Instead of presenting these documents, Vonovia provides the tenant organizations with self-prepared lists of just a few pages.

    For the VoNO!via tenants' alliance, one thing is certain: the existing statements of “modernization costs” that have an effect on rent increases cannot be verified under any circumstances. They can be manipulated in many places. This also applies to the billing of “own services” in the area of ​​operating costs, especially: gas and electricity costs, garden maintenance, cleaning, caretaker and cable fees. If the tenants exercise their right to withhold additional payments and/or future advance payments for operating costs after requesting to view the receipts, they will sometimes receive a reminder about alleged arrears even before the receipts are sent. This extends to out-of-court reminders from lawyers or debt collection agencies. Corresponding practices have been proven throughout Germany…”Press release from the VoNO!via tenants' alliance from March 16, 2023 externer Link, see at the same time:

    • Fiscal year 2022: Vonovia is developing economically in a stable manner and is adapting to changing conditions
      “Segment revenue increases 19.9%; EBITDA increases by 22.6%; FFO increases by 20.1%. Customer satisfaction at record high; almost no loss of rent; Vacancy at an all-time low. Active financial management and capital discipline in focus.  Annual General Meeting: Dividend proposal of €0.85 per share for 2022.   Social responsibility: active support of refugees and initiatives against homelessness. Overall stable forecast for 2023. Vonovia SE (“Vanovia”) can look back on a very successful 2022 financial year…”Vonovia press release from March 16, 2023 externer Link
  • Raid at Vonovia: Tenants' association demands complete clarification and transparent action 
    "Illegal operating cost bills and all other unlawful cost allocations must be corrected. "If tenants have been harmed by corrupt behavior by Vonovia employees, the company must immediately compensate those affected for the damage," demands the President of the German Tenants' Association, Lukas Siebenkotten, on the occasion of the public prosecutor's investigation into Germany's largest real estate group. DMB tenant associations have been complaining for years about the lack of transparency in Vonovia's allocation of operating costs and the allocation of costs to tenants for work that never took place. The German Tenants' Association expects the top management to resolutely counteract possible criminal activities within its own ranks, to give a comprehensive account of costs incurred and passed on to tenants in the past, and to quickly reimburse costs that have been wrongly passed on. In addition, Vonovia must finally act transparently and in an auditable manner when allocating costs, a demand that the German Tenants' Association and its tenants' associations have been making to the group for years, but unfortunately so far without success. “I have absolutely no understanding of attempts to excuse yourself by pointing to the company’s own compliance system and to style yourself as a victim,” says Siebenkotten. "If the allegations turn out to be true, the injured parties are primarily the tenants on whose backs the employees have enriched themselves. The top management should focus on this scandal and use all means possible to clarify past injustices, compensate for damages and prevent illegal activities in the future.But this can only be achieved with maximum transparency.” Report from the German Tenants' Association from March 9, 2023 externer Link, see also:

    • Raid at Vonovia: “The business model has been opaque for a long time”
      In theInterview by Gitta Düperthal in the young world on March 14, 2023 externer LinkAndré Juffern, who has been advising Vonovia tenants since 2009, criticizes Vonovia:"... Initially, the allegations of corruption related primarily to tradesmen's services. From our advice and the analysis of the company that we carry out, we know that Vonovia passes on a large part of these expenses to tenants as operating costs or modernization levies. Those affected often told us that the amount of these amounts was not comprehensible. We repeatedly criticized the group's lack of transparency towards us and the tenants, as a result of which we can hardly check whether the costs were justified. For example, supposedly Someone would have to come by every week for garden maintenance or caretaker services to provide these services - which, however, the tenants did not even notice (...) You have to know that things are even more confusing when it comes to major complete renovation projects: When it comes to listing external insulation, roof work, changed heating systems, stairwell work, new mailbox systems, front doors or windows, it would be comparatively easy to hide considerable amounts of money without it being noticed were transferred to tenants due to criminal offenses, Vonovia must refund the money. Apparently, the housing industry's business model has long been opaque and possibly criminal (...) The mentality of constantly generating high returns has become established in the industry. We have long been calling for the federal states to organize housing construction and inventory in order to be able to guarantee social control.(…) In any case, the incident undermines the arguments of opponents of the socialization of living space with reference to the former scandal surrounding “Neue Heimat”: The claim that the state is supposedly more prone to corruption than the private sector is obsolete. Statements by Vonovia CEO Rolf Buch about a supposedly stable testing system are untenable. In order to fundamentally put the system on a more solid basis, it is important to find out where control mechanisms have failed. Control rights for the tenants and their interest groups must extend to the last subcontractor invoice. The legislature must enable the necessary transparency.”
    • Raid on real estate group Vonovia: The industry giant is suspected of “problematic processes” when awarding contracts
      “On Tuesday, the police were at the door of Germany's largest real estate group. The Bochum public prosecutor's office and the North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office are investigating the Bochum company Vonovia. The public prosecutor's office said that employees of the company and other people involved were being investigated on suspicion of bribery and bribery, breach of trust and fraud. Vonovia has been criticized for years - including in the federal capital. The DAX group, which claims to have around 550,000 apartments across Europe, 42,000 of which are in Berlin alone, is criticized for its market power…”Article by Christopher Wimmer from March 13, 2023 in the ND online externer Link
  • New construction stop at Vonovia: Sharp criticism of Germany's largest landlord, IG BAU demands again: The federal government must get involved with Vonovia
    • New construction stop at Vonovia: sharp criticism of Germany's largest landlord
      “Germany's largest housing company has announced that it will not undertake any new construction projects in 2023. This is met with incomprehension by many - the Bauen-Agrar-Environment industrial union (IG Bau) is even calling on the federal government to get involved with Vonovia. However, opinions differ on how living space can be created.
      Vonovia's new construction freeze announced on Tuesday is causing harsh criticism of Germany's largest housing company: "Relying on Vonovia is turning out to be a big mistake," said Caren Lay, housing policy spokeswoman for the left-wing faction, to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “Profit-driven corporations are not a reliable partner in housing construction, they only build if it quickly becomes profitable,” the politician continued - and on Wednesday she was not alone in her call for more support for non-profit housing companies. (…) Vonovia (…) has announced a halt to construction, although the company expects a profit of around 2 billion euros. From the perspective of critics, there is actually room for investment: “Vanovia should stop paying dividends and use the money to secure the new building,” said Cansel Kiziltepe to the “Handelsblatt”. The deputy IG Bau boss Harald Schaum echoed the same sentiments as the SPD politician and parliamentary state secretary in the Ministry of Construction: “Exactly at the time when war refugees are coming and the queues for apartment viewings are getting longer and longer, Vonovia is showing the cold commercial shoulder,” said the trade unionist. (…) He also called on the federal government to invest in Vonovia with 25 percent plus one share in order to get a blocking minority in the DAX group.“This would give the state an influence on Vonovia’s long-term strategy,” hopes Schaum, who also wants to send a signal: “The state would thereby make it clear that – after many privatizations – it is getting involved in the housing market again.” He also renewed the demand for generous financial resources for social housing: "What is needed is a special fund for social housing - 50 billion euros by 2025, i.e. by the end of the legislative period," said Schaum. If people cannot find an apartment, that would be socially explosive. "And it will blow up in our faces - this year," warned Schaum. (…) “Especially now that new construction is being scaled back, we urgently need a new non-profit housing organization and significantly more funding for affordable and climate-friendly housing construction,” said Tenants’ Association President Lukas Siebenkotten. He also called on the federal government to ensure effective rent controls in order to provide short-term relief against rising rents due to the housing shortage. This may also apply to the 20 euros per square meter rent mentioned by Vonovia: “Such usurious rents are often not charged due to increased building prices, but for profit reasons, which must be sanctioned by the legislature,” says Siebenkotten. Initiatives against rent usury have recently failed in the Bundestag and the Federal Government.” Article by Christoph Höland and Johanna Apel from February 1, 2023 at RND externer Link
    • Now especially: the federal government must get involved with Vonovia and help determine the course
      “Regarding Vonovia's announced stop to new construction, the deputy federal chairman of the Construction-Agriculture-Environment industrial union, IG BAU Vice President Harald Schaum, explains: If Germany's largest housing group now completely puts new construction on hold, then that will have significant social consequences: Stopping the construction of new apartments - that is a low blow for the market, which urgently needs housing, and for the people who are urgently looking for an apartment. With over 700,000 apartments missing, there is the greatest housing shortage in over twenty years. At precisely the time when war refugees are arriving and the queues for apartment viewings are getting longer and longer, Vonovia is showing the “cold shoulder” of commerce: either more funding or more housing shortages - in a nutshell, that is the message that Germany's largest housing company is now presenting. It's bad enough that Vonovia no longer builds. But even more fatal is the signal that Vonovia is sending to the entire housing industry…”Press release from February 1st, 2023 from IG BAU externer Link 

  • Vonovia: If you have two months' rent arrears, you'll be thrown out - and beforehand you'll double your deductions and turn down the heating...
    • Possible eviction actions: Vonovia sc

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Source: labournet.de