The city of Berlin is buying a further 4,500 apartments from listed housing landlord Vonovia in a €700 mln transaction.
The apartments are located in the district of Lichtenberg and will be taken over by the state-owned housing company Howoge together with the associated land, as announced by Governing Mayor Kai Wegner. The annual rental income is €24.3 mln.
Together with Berlinovo, another state-owned housing company, Howoge is also acquiring 6.9 hectares of potential building land in Buch and Lichtenberg from the real estate group.
The transaction is part of the city's plan to expand the municipal housing stock not only through new construction, but also through acquisitions. In this way, the Senate hopes to have more influence on the tight housing market and slow down the rise in rents. A good fifth of the approximately 1.7 million rental apartments in the capital are currently in municipal hands.
The deal is being financed by the two municipal companies from their own funds and borrowed capital.
In 2021, Howoge, Degewo and Berlinovo acquired around 15,000 apartments from Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia for €2.46 bn.
