A foundation holds the land permanently and grants the group an Erbbaurecht; the group’s eG / GmbH / e.V. owns the building. The land leaves the market for good; the group’s capital need drops by the land price and is replaced by a yearly Erbbauzins.
- Rechtsfähige Stiftung (§§ 80–83b BGB, reform 2023): memberless legal person; Stiftungsgeschäft in writing with Satzung and dedicated assets (§ 81); needs Anerkennung by the Land authority; Grundstockvermögen must be preserved (§ 83b) — a house-group’s land is exactly such an asset. Open question (not a fact): Länder authorities’ informal capital floor (often cited ~€50–100k) not verified today.
- Treuhandstiftung: no legal personality, no Anerkennung; the Treuhänder (an existing foundation, e.g. Stiftung trias) holds title and manages the assets separately; “kann auch mit weniger als 50.000 Euro gegründet werden” (Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen). Fast, cheap, but the group depends on the Treuhänder’s Satzung.
- Existing foundation route: stiftung-trias buys the land (or takes it as Zustiftung), “der Notar teilt den Besitz in zwei Grundbücher” (house / land), sets Erbbauzins “für jedes neue Wohnprojekt individuell” and co-finances the land price; > 50 projects since 2002.
- Tax: Erbbaurecht counts as Grundstück (§ 2 Abs. 2 GrEStG) → Grunderwerbsteuer on the capitalised Erbbauzins, not on land value; gemeinnützig foundation exempt from KSt on the Erbbauzins if within purpose.
- Money: WoFG § 11 allows funding on an Erbbaurecht of appropriate duration, so the building owner’s Förderung survives the split. See Programme map below.
- Own foundation: worth it only for multi-house groups or where a donor exists; otherwise join trias or a regional Bodenstiftung.
Related
- erbbaurecht — the instrument itself (WP6: municipal and church Erbbaurecht)
- stiftung-trias — the sector’s land foundation (WP7)
- eg-cooperative, gmbh-ggmbh-project, ev-association — building owners on the Erbbaurecht
- grunderwerbsteuer-baugemeinschaft — Erbbaurecht tax base
- konzeptvergabe — municipalities increasingly pair Konzeptvergabe with Erbbaurecht
- dachgenossenschaft-model — Hamburg lists “gemeinnützige Stiftung” as Kooperationspartner/Bauherr
Programme map
Which money this form actually reaches. Terms live in the linked programme notes.
- Banks / programmes: WoFG § 11 explicitly allows funding on an Erbbaurecht “of appropriate duration”; banks accept Erbbaurecht collateral with ≥ ~30 years remaining and a Heimfall clause. kfw-134 / kfw-124 unaffected (they finance the member, not the land).
- What the Stiftung itself can apply for: state rental lines that name a Stiftung as eligible Bauherr — berlin-ibb-wohnungsneubaufonds, berlin-ibb-soziale-traegerwohnungen, hamburg-ifb-mietwohnungsneubau-1-foerderweg, hamburg-ifb-baugemeinschaften-genossenschaftlich, nrw-wohnraumfoerderung-mietwohnraum, nrw-gruppenwohnungen, hessen-mietwohnraumfoerderung, bayern-wohnungsbauprogramm-mietwohnraum, brandenburg-ilb-mietwohnungsbau-neubau, rheinland-pfalz-isb-darlehen-mietwohnungen, rheinland-pfalz-isb-gemeinschaftswohnungen, saarland-wohnraumfoerderung-mietwohnungsbau, saarland-wohnraumfoerderung-besondere-wohnformen — plus kfw-297-298, kfw-261, kfw-458, kfw-159, bafa-beg-em and the land route berlin-konzeptverfahren-erbbaurecht. In the usual split the foundation stays land-only and the building owner is the applicant, so these matter mainly when the foundation is also Bauherr.