Berlin – Marcel Eupen, who as chairman of the Alternative Tenants and Consumer Protection Association (AMV) has fought many legal disputes with Deutsche Wohnen, couldn’t believe it. After he called Deutsche Wohnen about water damage and said goodbye with the remark that after the sale of thousands of apartments to the State of Berlin, people would no longer speak so regularly in the future, his counterpart contradicted him – and pointed out that Deutsche Wohnen will continue to manage all of the apartments that have been sold to the state-owned Berlinovo in the future. “I was perplexed,” says Eupen. “Because I expected that, of course, the administration would also be completely taken over by the state-owned companies that acquired the apartments.”
But far from it. At the request of the Berliner Zeitung, Berlinovo confirmed what AMV boss Eupen had only heard before. The 3,939 residential and commercial units that Berlinovo acquired from Deutsche Wohnen as part of the so-called Vonovia deal will pass into the possession of Berlinovo on January 1, 2022. “Deutsche Wohnen’s portfolio will be managed by Deutsche Wohnen until December 31, 2022,” said Berlinovo spokesman Ulrich Kaliner. Because Berlinovo still lacks staff. That should only be built in the course of the next year. Berlinovo plans to recruit around 40 new employees by the end of 2022. A further 205 apartments that Berlinovo has acquired from Vonovia are to be managed by Berlinovo upon transfer of ownership on July 1, 2022.
In the so-called Vonovia deal, which was finalized shortly before the elections under pressure from the SPD, the state-owned companies Howoge, Degewo and Berlinovo acquired around 14,750 apartments and around 450 commercial units from Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia. Price: around 2.46 billion euros. Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen had initially offered the State of Berlin the sale of around 20,000 apartments as part of their planned merger. In the end, this resulted in the package with around 14,750 apartments.
No statements on the amount of the contract
After the contract was signed, Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz (SPD) cheered that the purchase of an apartment was “an example of a social Berlin”. With the “return to municipal hands, the tenants have the necessary security that their apartments will be permanently in the low-cost segment”. The three national companies are “in very good health and in a position to successfully manage the purchase”. Now it turns out: at least Berlinovo is not in a position to manage the apartments itself from an organizational point of view.
How expensive it is to manage the 3,939 residential and commercial units remains a secret from Berlinovo and Deutsche Wohnen. “We do not make any statements about this,” explains Berlinovo. And Deutsche Wohnen lets you know: “Confidentiality clauses apply to the contracts concluded between the contracting parties.” Since January 1, 2020, these have been around 298 euros per apartment per year. If this value is taken as a basis, the costs for 3939 residential and commercial units would be around 1.17 million euros.
Degewo and Howoge, who were also involved in the Vonovia deal, are better off than Berlinovo, at least for the moment. Both companies want to manage the apartments themselves from the outset. But they have a similar goal. You also want to recruit new employees for the administration.
Vague statements about rent structure
In the meantime, what is important for the tenants is what requirements Berlinovo makes of Deutsche Wohnen as the administrator. Will Berlinovo take on the obligations of the state-owned housing companies from the cooperation agreement with the Senate, which includes a limitation on rent increases beyond what is legally required? Company spokesman Kaliner says: Yes, Berlinovo will implement the obligations from the cooperation agreement in the acquired portfolios. So at least that is certain.
Tenant advisor Marcel Eupen is still critical of the commissioning of Deutsche Wohnen as administrator. “The fact that Berlinovo is currently unable to manage the acquired properties itself due to personnel reasons, but leaves the management to Deutsche Wohnen, shows that the deal was hastily carried out,” he says. “Instead of first securing a right of first refusal, then calmly examining it and taking care of the organizational structures, the purchase was made hastily.” what a legally secure law has to look like in order to expropriate Deutsche Wohnen, and on the other hand a state-owned housing association that has its properties managed by Deutsche Wohnen. “This leads to” a conflict of interest that is unacceptable “. “Berlinovo must immediately terminate the management contract with Deutsche Wohnen,” demands Eupen.
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