Häuser Bewegen GIMA eG. 

Berlin

In November 2021, a group of housing cooperatives, associations, the Tenement Housing Syndicate (Mietshäusersyndikat), and individuals registered the Häuser Bewegen GIMA Berlin-Brandenburg eG cooperative real-estate agency based on the principle of Gemeinwohl, the first such establishment of its kind in the region. It follows the model of a cooperative in Munich called GIMA München, which also served as a reference for establishing GIMA Frankfurt a.M.

Based on the principle of social responsibility, the Häuser Bewegen GIMA mediates real-estate purchases by its members from prospective sellers and title holders. It focuses on integrating tenants’ interests and engaging them in the process, as well as uncoupling purchases from market prices and connecting them to Gemeinwohl principles. The cooperative charges a mediation fee of 1% of the selling price in comparison to the common 7% rate of real-estate agencies. By early 2023, the cooperative had 15 member organizations with a housing stock of approximately 4,000 units.

Between 2018 and 2021, a tenant initiative set the stage for the establishment of the cooperative with a project called “Häuser Bewegen” (Moving Houses), where they experimented with and piloted the founding of a Gemeinwohl real-estate agency. It was partially funded by the City District Council of Berlin Mitte.