As part of its strategic realignment, Volkswagen AG has considered divesting approximately 10,000 residential units in Wolfsburg and the surrounding area. These holdings belong to the group subsidiary VW Immobilien, a member of the Association of Housing and Real Estate Industry Lower Saxony Bremen (vdw).
In view of these considerations, the association's director, Dr. Susanne Schmitt, sent urgent letters this week to Prime Minister Olaf Lies, Wolfsburg's Mayor Dennis Weilmann, and VW CEO Oliver Blume. She warned of the potentially far-reaching social consequences of such a property deal and appealed to the addressees to immediately end speculation about a sale of the holdings.
Dr. Schmitt emphasised in her statements the traditionally socially responsible position of VW Immobilien. The company enables thousands of people to access secure, modern, and affordable housing, which represents significant societal value. A sale of these holdings would jeopardise the existence of many people's homes in Lower Saxony.
Historical Experiences and Warnings
In the aforementioned letters, Dr. Schmitt referred to the consistently negative experiences from past sales of municipal and private housing companies. She recalled transactions 20 to 25 years ago, in which, among others, NILEG, BauBeCon, Preussag-Immobilien in Salzgitter, as well as municipal companies in Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, and Osnabrück, were primarily sold to international investment funds.
The vdw association director stated that in all these sales, the social responsibility of the companies and the welfare of the tenants were subordinated to the goal of the highest possible return. The negative social, economic, and urban development consequences of these transactions are still visible in many cities today. She explained that living conditions for residents had not improved at any of the locations. Rather, low-income households and welfare recipients, in particular, suffered from a structural neglect of housing stock left behind by the investment funds.
Dr. Schmitt underscored that VW Immobilien is not only a strong member of socially oriented housing companies in Lower Saxony but, above all, a responsible landlord for thousands of people. A sale would represent an irreplaceable loss, particularly for Wolfsburg and its population. In contrast to earlier years, when the negative consequences of corporate sales were underestimated due to lack of knowledge and expected proceeds, the facts are now clear. Anyone pursuing purely financial motives tacitly accepts that the living conditions of the affected tenants will worsen, and society will have to bear the long-term, significant costs of such a transaction. Urban regeneration is considerably more expensive than collaborative urban development. Investment funds generally show no interest in such partnerships with municipalities and local stakeholders, nor in taking clear responsibility in the districts and neighbourhoods. Therefore, a sale of VW Immobilien, however sensible it may seem from the perspective of an automotive group, would foreseeably pose a serious problem for the state, the city, and many thousands of Wolfsburg residents.
The Role of the vdw
- —The vdw Association of Housing and Real Estate Industry Lower Saxony Bremen represents the interests of 180 housing companies.
- —Approximately one million people live in the roughly 400,000 residential units owned by its members.
- —In Lower Saxony, one in five rental flats belongs to the holdings of vdw member companies.
- —In the state of Bremen, this share is even over 40 per cent, making vdw member companies the most important providers of rental flats in both federal states.
