• A resource-friendly, forward-looking timesaver – online contractual conclusion directly from a smartphone
• Customer-focused service for new tenants
• Vonovia’s customer app makes the company an online pioneer in the housing industry

Bochum, Germany, April 21, 2021 - Limiting face-to-face contacts, saving resources, and flexible time management from wherever you are – these are just some of the reasons to conclude rent agreements online. Vonovia has now enabled future tenants to conclude their rent agreements online, using a specially developed customer app, My Vonovia. With this app, Germany’s biggest housing company has expanded its digital services, so that business between Vonovia and its tenants has never been easier.

The benefits of progress

“By providing a complete online procedure for signing a rent agreement, Vonovia is giving tenants the flexibility to use this service at any time and in any place. It also saves resources and is therefore more sustainable,” says Malte Hollstein, Managing Director Customer Service at Vonovia. “It means we have reached a further milestone in digitalization, while improving our customer service and making it more sustainable.”

To conclude a rent agreement online, a future customer simply uploads photos of all the documents with relevance to their contract, e.g. personal ID and proof of income. The app also includes a direct debit procedure for rental payments, and then all that’s needed is a click of a button, to confirm conclusion of the contract. Personal data is transmitted in encrypted form and processed securely at all times.

New app function meets with great interest among consumers

Market research by ImmoScout24 has shown that the majority of Germans would now like to conclude contracts online. 59% of respondents said they were prepared to check and sign their rent agreements online. The level of openness was higher among men, at 68%, compared with women, at 51%. Openness towards concluding online rent agreements was at its highest in the 30-to-39 age bracket, reaching 72%.

User figures reflect high level of acceptance

The My Vonovia app, available from app stores since the beginning of last year, has now added another function: the online signing of rent agreements. Tenants can find all the details of their tenancy at a glance. The app also allows them to report any repairs that are needed, make a direct appointment with a contractor and follow the status of a request in real time. Also, a personal digital mailbox is included where a tenant can view all documents with relevance to the contract, such as the settlement of the operating cost and utility charges.

In addition, the app provides interesting news, tips and information from the immediate neighborhood and allows networking within the housing estate. Since it was first launched, the app has been continually expanded, adding new features and functions. Vonovia’s tenants have responded well to the app and are using its services on a regular basis. So far, the app has been downloaded over 150,000 times and currently has an active user base of around 48,000.

About Vonovia

Vonovia offers a home to around one million people in Germany. The residential real estate company plays a central role in society, which is why Vonovia’s activities are never focused exclusively on financial aspects, but also take social factors into account. Vonovia is helping to provide answers to the current challenges on the housing market. The company is committed to more climate protection, more senior-friendly apartments and a positive community spirit in its neighborhoods. In cooperation with social institutions and the municipal districts, Vonovia supports social and cultural projects that enrich community life. Vonovia is also helping to address a social issue that is particularly important at the moment: the construction of new apartments.

Our activities focus on our customers and their needs. On site, caretakers and our own craftsmen take care of our tenants’ concerns. Being close to our customers ensures fast and reliable service. In addition, Vonovia invests generously in the maintenance of the buildings and develops housing-related services for a better quality of living. For answers to any questions in connection with lease agreements and ancillary expense bills, the central customer service center can be contacted via a regional service hotline as well as by email, fax, app or by post.

Vonovia has a workforce of more than 10,000 employees and its CEO is Rolf Buch.

Additional Information:

Approval: Regulated Market/Prime Standard, Frankfurt Stock Exchange ISIN: DE000A1ML7J1 WKN: A1ML7J Common code: 094567408 Registered headquarters of Vonovia SE: Bochum, Germany, Bochum Local Court, HRB 16879 Business address of Vonovia SE: Universitätsstrasse 133, 44803 Bochum, Germany

This press release has been issued by Vonovia SE and/or its subsidiaries solely for information purposes. This press release may contain statements, assumptions, opinions and predictions about the anticipated future development of Vonovia ("forward-looking statements") that reproduce various assumptions regarding, e.g., results derived from Vonovia’s current business or from publicly available sources that have not been subject to an independent audit or in-depth evaluation by Vonovia and that may turn out to be incorrect at a later stage. All forward-looking statements express current expectations based on the current business plan and various other assumptions and therefore come with risks and uncertainties that are not insignificant. All forward-looking statements should not therefore be taken as a guarantee for future performance or results and, furthermore, do not necessarily constitute exact indicators that the forecast results will be achieved. All forward-looking statements relate solely to the day on which this press release was issued to its recipients. It is the responsibility of the recipients of this press release to conduct a more detailed analysis of the validity of forward-looking statements and the underlying assumptions. Vonovia accepts no responsibility for any direct or indirect damages or losses or subsequent damages or losses as well as penalties that the recipients may incur by using the press release, its contents and, in particular, all forward-looking statements or in any other way, as far as this is legally permissible. Vonovia does not provide any guarantees or assurances (either explicitly or implicitly) in respect of the information contained in this press release. Vonovia is not obliged to update or correct the information, forward-looking statements or conclusions drawn in this press release or to include subsequent events or circumstances or to report inaccuracies that become known after the date of this press release.