Due to rising gas prices, utility bills for tenants can skyrocket.
(Photo: imago/wolterfoto)
Dusseldorf If necessary, the housing giant Vonovia wants to terminate tenants who have not been able to meet their payment obligations for months, for example for the sharply increased ancillary costs. “Last resort: sending out the eviction notice,” says documents for an investor day that Vonovia presented on Tuesday. In the event of a delay in payment, Vonovia proceeds according to a step-by-step model. If the sum owed by the tenant corresponds to two months’ rent, the contract may be terminated.
The group is in contact with tenants to find out the reasons for payment failures, it said. If the tenant can get help from the state, Vonovia will inform him how he can get it so that he can pay.
If the tenant still fails to meet his obligations despite an offer of individual solutions from Vonovia, the Group will send him a formal payment request. If the arrears added up to the value of two months’ rent, the last step would be an eviction action. After that, the affected apartment can be rented again.
Due to rising gas prices, utility bills for tenants can skyrocket. According to earlier information from the group, around 55 percent of the heating systems in Vonovia’s portfolio are supplied with gas. Vonovia had announced that it would reduce heating at night to save gas.
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The Bochum group owns around 490,000 apartments in Germany. Vonovia boss Rolf Buch had also warned against significantly increasing utility bills in view of the rapidly increasing energy costs in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions from the West.
Search for partners for housing stocks
Meanwhile, Vonovia is pressing ahead with the search for partners for housing stocks in Sweden and Baden-Württemberg. Vonovia will soon be entering into talks with investors, and the company also announced in documents for the Investor Day that corresponding information letters have already been sent to interested parties.
In addition, the management is preparing real estate packages for sale. Talks with investors about a sale should also begin quickly for the care properties that the subsidiary Deutsche Wohnen has put up for sale, it said. However, Vonovia is not under pressure with the sales plans and will not sell real estate packages at bargain prices.
The Bochum-based group, which has grown over the years primarily through acquisitions, had announced that it now wanted to get investors for joint ventures on board in view of rising interest rates and increasing construction costs. He is aiming for joint projects with pension funds, for example. The Bochum residents also want to part with apartments and single-family homes worth around 13 billion euros over the years. “In times of higher interest rates, it makes sense to reduce debt,” Buch justified the course.
More: Vonovia lowers the heating temperature at night – the housing industry warns of the consequences of the energy price explosion.