7 Government Grants
Accounting Policies
Government grants are recognized when there is reasonable assurance that the relevant conditions will be fulfilled and that the grants will be awarded.
Government grants that do not relate to investments are regularly recognized as income in the periods in which the relevant expenses are incurred.
Expenses subsidies granted in the form of rent, interest and other expenses subsidies are recorded as income in the periods in which the expenses are incurred and shown within other income from property management.
The low-interest loans are grants from public authorities that – insofar as the company received them as part of a business combination – are recorded at present value. The difference between face value and present value is recognized with an effect on net income over the maturity term of the corresponding loans.
New expenses loans or low-interest loans are initially recognized at their present value within the non-derivative financial liabilities on the basis of the market interest rate at the time the loans are taken out. The difference between the face value and the present value of the loan is recognized as deferred income. Reversal occurs, in principle, with an effect on net income in line with the length of the fixed-interest-rate period of the relevant loans. In cases where the low-interest loans are issued as part of capitalized modernization measures, the difference between the face value and the present value of the loan is deducted from the capitalized acquisition cost. In subsequent measurements, the loans are measured at amortized cost.
The companies that belong to the Group receive government grants in the form of construction subsidies, expenses subsidies, expenses loans and low-interest loans. In the 2019 fiscal year, Vonovia was granted low-interest loans of € 444.3 million (2018: € 171.1 million).