Homes That Meet People’s Needs and Demographic Change

We are committed to ensuring that a significant portion of our newly constructed apartments will be accessible and wheelchair friendly. Additionally, we are dedicated to offering flexible apartment sizes to cater to a variety of needs. More important, however, is the low barrier for equipping and refurbishing existing apartments for people with impaired mobility. To this end, we review existing buildings to determine their potential for accessibility. We mostly achieve this with partial refurbishments, which is our way of keeping the product affordable. This consequently allows us to retrofit apartments one by one, ideally according to the stage of life of our customers, in line with their needs. Homes that are completely barrier-free, according to German industry standard DIN 18040-2, are only necessary in very rare cases. Rather, a small number of measures, such as fitting non-slip flooring, flush-to-floor showers, or wheelchair-accessible sinks, or widening doors to standard sizes, are often sufficient to significantly increase the level of living comfort in old age.

Due to the limited investment opportunities available, in 2023 we were only able to (partially) modernize around 6,550 apartments (or 17.5% of newly let apartments) to make them fully accessible. As far as 2024 is concerned, we expect to be able to return to the original level of around 30 percent. The refurbishment program relates to the German portfolio – there are no equivalent programs in Austria or Sweden, although making homes more accessible is also a consideration there under the relevant building regulations. 

Since the merger with Deutsche Wohnen, the Vonovia Group also has 72 nursing care properties with a total of around 9,540 nursing places. Like the rental business, our activities in the care segment focus on cities and regions with positive development forecasts, as these are the areas with a particularly high demand for nursing and other care services (full inpatient care, as well as assisted living combined with outpatient and day patient care). We place particular emphasis on high-quality properties, as well as high-quality care, support, and service. 

Care business operations are based on an independent system and process landscape. 39 retirement and care homes are operated under the brands KATHARINENHOF and PFLEGEN & WOHNEN HAMBURG, 38 of which are owned by Deutsche Wohnen. There are also an additional 33 nursing care properties run by other agencies. 

These facilities provide full residential care, the aim being to maintain an active lifestyle and residents’ independence to the greatest possible extent. Demand remained at a consistently high level in the reporting year. Senior citizen-friendly services are also provided within the context of assisted living. With its Care segment, Deutsche Wohnen makes a substantial contribution to addressing demographic change.