The provision of housing is increasingly becoming a decisive factor in attracting qualified specialists, particularly when hiring from abroad. At an online press conference, industry experts discussed existing models for creating corporate housing. The exchange featured Dennis Rahneberg from aczepta Sozialbetriebe GmbH, Ulrich Creydt from Ypsilon Group, Klaus Busch from CoRE Solutions, and Nora Gehlen from International Campus.
For the social and healthcare provider aczepta, housing has become a central component of its human resources strategy. The organisation, which employs around 500 staff, currently provides accommodation for roughly 60 employees across 13 apartments. Over the medium term, around a quarter of the workforce is to be offered accommodation. To achieve this, the company combines its own properties with leased units and leverages potential for densification and conversions in both new developments and existing stock.
As managing director Dennis Rahneberg explained, secure housing is the essential prerequisite for international specialists to take up employment in Germany. Alongside affordable rents, tailored housing formats are vital, ranging from shared flats for trainees to family apartments. In the healthcare sector, reliable public transport connections during shift times and targeted support to prevent social isolation are also necessary.
Tax framework and structured financing models
Ulrich Creydt from Ypsilon Group outlined the tax instruments available to support residential construction investments. Through the interaction of declining-balance depreciation of five per cent annually with special depreciation for new rental housing, companies can write off up to 40 per cent of qualifying costs in the first four years. Furthermore, providing accommodation at a reduced rate remains exempt from income tax, provided employees pay at least two thirds of the local reference rent and this does not exceed 25 EUR per square metre excluding service charges. Given the long planning cycles involved, Creydt advocated for extending these regulations beyond 2029.
For schemes with a volume of around ten million EUR or more, Klaus Busch from CoRE Solutions presented off-balance-sheet property leasing structures via separate special purpose vehicles. A project for Munich's ISAR Klinikum serves as an operational example: corporate apartments are combined with higher-priced rental flats within a single scheme. The revenues from open-market lettings cross-subsidise the more favourable terms offered to hospital staff.
As a supplement to permanent property portfolios, furnished temporary apartments offer short-term flexibility. Nora Gehlen from International Campus pointed to the HAVENS LIVING offering in major cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg, which companies can use to accommodate project teams or bridge the initial months after an employee starts work.
