The registered housing cooperative (Genossenschaftsgesetz, GenG). Members hold Geschäftsanteile (= the eG’s equity, refunded at nominal on exit) and occupy units under a permanent Dauernutzungsvertrag. The house stays collectively owned; no member can sell “their” flat.
- Founding: ≥ 3 members (§ 4 GenG); written Satzung; Gründungsversammlung; mandatory membership of a Prüfungsverband (§ 54 GenG); the Verband’s Gründungsgutachten is filed with the Genossenschaftsregister (§ 11 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 GenG). No notarial deed, only notarised signatures on the register filing. No minimum capital by law; the Verband checks the Wirtschaftsplan is fundable.
- Cost / time: Gründungsprüfung ~25–30 h at ~€125/h (PkmG quote: ~€3,100–3,750
- VAT) plus notary/register ~€350–500; typical 3–6 months from first contact to registration (Genoverband). Ongoing: Verbandsbeitrag + Pflichtprüfung every 2nd year (annual once Bilanzsumme > €2 m, § 53 GenG).
- Liability: only the eG’s assets; members lose at most their shares unless the Satzung adds a Nachschusspflicht (most housing co-ops exclude it).
- Exit: Kündigung of membership (Satzung sets notice, often 1–2 years); shares repaid at nominal from the Auseinandersetzungsguthaben — no capital gain.
- Tax: Vermietungsgenossenschaft is exempt from Körperschaft- and Gewerbesteuer when ≥ 90 % of income comes from letting to members (§ 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 10 KStG).
- Banks: like the form — collective borrower, member equity 10–30 %, Prüfungsverband audits, no single-household default risk. GLS and Sparkassen lend routinely.
- Money: kfw-134 is the headline line (member borrows for shares); the eG itself borrows under state Mietwohnungsbau lines. Full list in Programme map below.
Related
- kfw-134 — the federal loan this form unlocks (natural-person member borrows)
- genossenschaft-shares — the equity members hold
- genossenschaft-pruefungsverband — the mandatory audit association and its cost
- wohngemeinnuetzigkeit — optional gemeinnützig status from 2025; not required for § 5 KStG exemption
- belegungsbindung — what state loans bind the co-op to
- grunderwerbsteuer-baugemeinschaft — buying a share is not a land purchase
- gbr-baugemeinschaft — the planning-phase vehicle groups often use before founding the eG
- dachgenossenschaft-model — joining an umbrella co-op instead of founding
- ev-association, gmbh-ggmbh-project, syndikat-haus-gmbh — the alternatives
- weg-baugruppe — the owner-occupier ending a Baugruppe takes instead of the eG
- mopeg-egbr — the planning GbR must be an eGbR before it can hold or transfer the land
- stiftung-owner — eG as building owner on a foundation’s Erbbaurecht
- soziale-wohnraumfoerderung, berlin-ibb-genossenschaftsfoerderung-anteilserwerb, berlin-ibb-genossenschaftsfoerderung-neubau-bestand, hamburg-ifb-baugemeinschaften-genossenschaftlich, rheinland-pfalz-isb-genossenschaftsanteile, wohn-riester — programme notes (other work packages)
Detail
Wohnungsgenossenschaft vs. Dachgenossenschaft. A Wohnungsgenossenschaft owns its house(s) directly; each project founds its own eG (typical for one-house groups of 10–40 households). A Dachgenossenschaft is one eG holding several houses, each run by a Hausgemeinschaft under an internal Nutzungsvertrag; the group joins instead of founding, avoiding the Gründungsprüfung and the shortage of specialist advisors. Trade-off: less autonomy over resale and rent policy.
Why banks like it. The borrower is a juristische Person with audited accounts, a statutory Prüfungsverband, member equity that cannot be withdrawn except by Kündigung, and rent income from members who are also owners. Default correlation is low. This is why the eG is the “gateway” form in most Länder programmes.
Formation support. Founding a new eG is barely supported outside Hamburg/Berlin/Leipzig (advisory desks and Genossenschaftsanteil subsidies exist there) and faces a shortage of specialist consultants/auditors/tax advisors — a real friction to flag, not gloss over. Lower Saxony ran a Sozialgenossenschaft founding grant (max €6,000/project, ended 2024-12-31; Genoverband). Open question (not a fact): whether it was renewed for 2025/26.
Investing members (§ 8 Abs. 2 GenG) may be admitted by Satzung but do not count as members for the KStG exemption.
Programme map
Which money this form actually reaches. Terms live in the linked programme notes.
- Unlocks: kfw-134 (member loan for share purchase), state Genossenschaftsanteil lines (berlin-ibb-genossenschaftsfoerderung-anteilserwerb, rheinland-pfalz-isb-genossenschaftsanteile, hamburg-ifb-vorfinanzierung-wa-genossenschaften), social-housing loans (soziale-wohnraumfoerderung → belegungsbindung), wohn-riester and wohnungsbaupraemie for shares (member-side, not the eG), saxony-frl-familienwohnen Ziffer III Nr. 2.
- Where the eG is the applicant (the group entity, not the household): state Mietwohnungsbau lines — berlin-ibb-wohnungsneubaufonds, hamburg-ifb-baugemeinschaften-genossenschaftlich, hamburg-ifb-mietwohnungsneubau-1-foerderweg, nrw-wohnraumfoerderung-mietwohnraum, hessen-mietwohnraumfoerderung, bayern-wohnungsbauprogramm-mietwohnraum, brandenburg-ilb-mietwohnungsbau-neubau, rheinland-pfalz-isb-darlehen-mietwohnungen, saarland-wohnraumfoerderung-mietwohnungsbau — plus the KfW Unternehmen/ Genossenschaften tracks kfw-297-298, kfw-296, kfw-261, kfw-458, kfw-159, kfw-270 and bafa-beg-em. All rental lines carry belegungsbindung; the Eigentum lines (kfw-124, kfw-300, kfw-308) do not reach the eG — those are the WEG route.