Berlin – The planned purchase of 14,000 apartments from Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia, planned by the State of Berlin, is fueling the red-red-green coalition. The left-wing MPs Steffen Zillich and Michail Nelken said on Monday that the Senate and the committees of the urban societies should not decide on their own to acquire residential property of this size. “We expect the Senate to deal with the responsible committees of the House of Representatives with the planned purchase in the short term,” said the Left-wing MPs. The Green MP Katrin Schmidberger demanded that “at least the coalition be included” in a financial decision of this kind.
Occasion: On Friday, the RBB announced that the negotiations on the purchase led by the Senate Department for Finance were on the home straight. Originally there was talk of around 20,000 apartments that Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen want to sell. The spokesman for the financial administration Alexis Demos justified the fact that there are now significantly fewer on Monday by stating that the housing associations would have to “plan in some cases additional expenditure for future investment measures in the portfolio at the purchase price”. In plain language: The structural condition is apparently so bad that a lot of money has to be invested in the apartments.
Special tenant protection should also apply to the Berlinovo
The state-owned housing associations Degewo and Howoge are to acquire the 14,000 apartments together with the state-owned Berlinovo, which manages the real estate from the scandal fund of the former bank company. According to the tax authorities, it doesn’t require the House of Representatives to approve the deal. Because the companies would “carry out and finance the purchase independently”. The state budget will not be burdened with it. Nevertheless, the main committee of the House of Representatives, which is responsible for finances, will be “informed confidentially” this week, according to agency spokesman Alexis Demos.
At the same time, Demos made it clear that the special tenant protection, which the state-owned companies have agreed with the Senate in a cooperation agreement, should apply to all apartments to be purchased – including those that Berlinovo takes over. She has not yet joined the cooperation agreement.
The sales negotiations should be finished in a few days. A notarial conclusion of the talks is expected in mid-September, said Demos.