Bavaria Courts Property Giants and Warns Against Berlin Socialisation Plans

Bavaria's building committee convened a special session on Tuesday to debate Berlin's plans to transfer roughly 160,000 apartments owned by large housing corporations into public ownership, and to pitch Bavaria as a safer alternative for investors. CSU committee chair Jürgen Baumgärtner called the gathering the "beginning of a wonderful friendship between investors and Bavaria," warning that Berlin's approach would send a "fatal signal for the entire German housing market."

The session drew representatives from the three housing groups most exposed to the Berlin plans — Vonovia, Covivio, and Heimstaden — alongside figures from Bavaria's wider housing sector. Even Greens politician Jürgen Mistol agreed that socialisation "solves not a single problem," though he struck a notably milder tone than speakers from the CSU and Free Voters. Beatrix Zurek of the Munich Tenants' Association, invited by the SPD, pushed back, arguing the constitutional right to socialisation deserves a factual discussion rather than demonisation.

Bavaria had already introduced a Bundesrat initiative against socialisation over the summer, and CSU Premier Markus Söder has threatened a constitutional court challenge if Berlin proceeds. An exploratory paper from Berlin's prospective Red-Green-Red coalition of the SPD, Greens, and Left Party set a maximum compensation figure of 16 billion euros.

Despite Bavaria's warm overtures, the corporate representatives were cautious. Covivio managing director Daniel Frey said he did not believe shareholders could be convinced to redirect investment to Bavaria in the event of an expropriation. Vonovia declined to give building projections, and Heimstaden noted it is "not a developer but a stock holder."