Germany’s reference ethical house bank for community housing. It runs two different doors, and groups routinely pick the wrong one.
- Firmenkunden door — “Wohnprojekte” (Branchenexpertise Wohnen). Finances “alle Rechtsformen”: Wohnbaugenossenschaften, Baugruppen, private owners and investors, for Neubau, Altbau, Umbau and Sanierung. This is the door for an eG, an e.V., a gGmbH or a Haus-GmbH. Apply via a Firmenkundenberater*in or the online Finanzierungsanfrage.
- Privatkunden door — “Baugruppen”. For households building together. GLS states outright: “Die Finanzierung von Vereinen, Firmen und ähnlichem ist nicht möglich” — so a group entity must use the Firmenkunden door. Terms: min. loan €50,000, 10 yr Zinsbindung, min. 1 % Tilgung p.a., 5 % free Sondertilgung p.a.
- Equity: GLS states there is no fixed minimum-equity ratio (“Nein, dies gibt es bei der GLS Bank nicht”), but the Erwerbsnebenkosten must be covered by equity in every case. In practice the senior tranche sits above Direktkredite and member shares.
Related
- syndikat-direktkredit — the subordinated tranche the senior loan stacks above
- genossenschaft-shares — member equity under the same stack
- eg-cooperative, ev-association, gmbh-ggmbh-project — eligible borrower forms
- kfw-134, kfw-261, kfw-297-298 — programme money GLS passes through as Hausbank
- umweltbank-financing, ethikbank-financing, kd-bank-financing — the other value-based lenders
- buergschaftsbank-guarantee — GLS also offers a Bürgschaftsdarlehen route
Detail
-
Sustainability gate: every property runs through the nWert-Audit; strong sustainability scores earn “zinsgünstige Kredite”. Rates are not published.
-
Membership: GLS is itself a co-op — Mitgliedsbeitrag €12–60/yr.
-
Big projects: for volumes a single bank will not carry, GLS arranges Gemeinschaftsfinanzierungen with other banks/institutional lenders (example on its own page: Möckernkiez Berlin, €130 m). Lead time 6–12 months from enquiry to issue.
-
Open question (not a fact): GLS publishes no LTV band and no statement on whether it counts Direktkredite as Eigenkapital. Treat the widely repeated “banks accept Nachrangdarlehen as equity substitute” as Syndikat practice, not a published GLS rule.