Creating Appropriate Living Space and Affordable Rents
Challenges, Opportunities and Risks
GRI
Making new homes available while at the same time ensuring affordable rents is associated with both opportunities and risks for Vonovia. This is because Vonovia is operating in an area of tension, which is subject to intensive public debate on social housing as well as tenancy law and sociopolitical issues.
Challenges
- Public discussions on affordable housing and the right to affordable housing
- Subjective feeling of injustice due to rent developments
- Widespread “not-in-my-backyard” stance with regard to densification
Opportunities
- Possible increase in support for new construction and densification by taking a serial/modular approach to construction work and ensuring shorter construction times
- Reduction in construction and follow-up costs
- Increase in quality thanks to standardization of construction and procurement processes
- Tenants can remain in their apartments in the long term thanks to needs-based construction
- Increased trust and attractiveness by limiting the allocation of modernization costs
- Implementation of consultation and participation procedures
Risks
- Mounting construction costs, longer construction times and financial burden for Vonovia due to the construction boom and increasing regulations
- State-specific building regulations hinder the implementation of modular construction in some cases
- Less financial incentive to create new housing due to tightened regulations