Vonovia Chief Pushes Back on Berlin Expropriation Push as Shares Hover Near 52-Week Low

Vonovia CEO Mucic says socializing Berlin's large residential portfolios would add no apartments and cost the city billions in compensation.

Vonovia's leadership has drawn a hard line against efforts by Berlin state politicians to socialize large residential portfolios, arguing that such a move would do nothing to ease the capital's housing shortage while saddling the public purse with billions in compensation costs.

CEO Luka Mucic said expropriations would not create a single additional apartment, merely reshuffling existing ownership. He called instead for a sharper focus on new construction, faster permitting procedures, and a more investment-friendly climate — a pointed rebuttal to proposals floated by the Berlin Linke, which announced Thursday that it intends to socialize Vonovia's holdings in the capital.

The initiative targets residential companies owning more than 3,000 units in Berlin, a threshold that would sweep in upwards of 200,000 apartments across the city. Vonovia, Germany's largest landlord, currently has 1,000 new-build units under construction, according to Mucic.

A Price Tag Nobody Can Agree On

The financial consequences for Berlin's budget form the sharpest point of contention. Mucic warned that compensation payments in the billions would overwhelm the city's finances and trigger a severe loss of confidence among private capital providers — the very investors needed to fund residential construction.

Just how large that bill would be is a matter of wildly divergent estimates. Berlin's state audit office put the cost of a conventional expropriation at more than EUR 42 billion. A 2021 senate estimate, covering 243,000 units, projected EUR 28.8 billion to EUR 36 billion. The Linke's own concept, by contrast, assumes roughly EUR 25 billion, to be serviced through loans and ongoing rental income.

Political Momentum Meets Corporate Counterweight

The renewed escalation follows the Linke's victory in Berlin's state election about a week ago, which thrust the question of socializing large property holdings back into the spotlight. Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen together hold around 130,000 apartments in the capital. On Friday, the Berlin Linke voted on exploratory talks with the Greens and the SPD — a process that could bring the demand for socialization closer to the negotiating table.

Vonovia is not limiting its response to rhetoric. According to a dpa-AFX report Thursday, the company has offered to build and operate housing for Bundeswehr soldiers, a proposal tied to plans to expand the German armed forces. The Focus reported Thursday that Vonovia is prepared to construct and manage apartments for the planned personnel increase, envisaging serial new-builds in designated residential areas that could be rented to military personnel and their families. Talks at the military level have already taken place, Vonovia said, though the decision on implementation rests with the Bundeswehr or the defense ministry.

Shares Stay Pinned Near the Floor

For investors, the reignited expropriation debate adds another layer of uncertainty on top of an already difficult interest-rate environment for the sector. Vonovia closed Friday at EUR 17.34, a gain of 0.7% on the day, yet the stock sits just 1.7% above its 52-week low of EUR 17.05. Since the start of the year, the shares have shed 29%.

Separately, Vonovia published a notice Friday regarding application of the Empowering Consumers Directive and its implementation in the German Act Against Unfair Competition as of September 27, 2026. Environmental and climate statements issued by the company before that date will remain accessible for documentation purposes, based on the knowledge and facts available at the time.