Frankfurt: Exemplary model for socially responsible real estate sales

Frankfurt: Exemplary model for socially responsible real estate sales

A community of heirs in Frankfurt recently sold an apartment building in the Ostend with seven apartments for an amount below the maximum price to the public welfare-oriented cooperative of civil servants' housing association (BWV). Instead of the originally requested purchase price of 1.6 million euros, the three owners accepted a reduced sum because the cooperative guaranteed socially acceptable rents in the long term. One of the sellers plans to continue living in the house on Röderbergweg.

This step was praised by Frankfurt's housing department head Marcus Gwechenberger (SPD) as an exemplary model that will hopefully encourage other cooperatives and owners to take similar paths. The city benefits from such solutions because the low rent levels in cooperatives have a long-term positive impact on rents throughout the city.

With this purchase, the BWV cooperative would like to make its contribution to the housing supply in Frankfurt. Although the current real estate situation is difficult, the house on Röderbergweg ideally suited their requirements. A board member of the BWV, Matthias Henties, emphasized the importance of this step for the housing supply in the city.

In order to support owners who want to sell their properties at fair prices to buyers oriented towards the common good, the city founded the Cooperative Real Estate Agency Frankfurt (Gima) about three years ago. This initiative is intended to show that the sale of real estate can be made socially responsible and hopefully inspire other similar cases. However, in order to promote such developments, it is important to improve the framework conditions for housing companies oriented towards the common good.