How Vonovia lets its flats

In short

1. Request the flat on vonovia.de through the form under „Objekt anfragen“. It asks for your phone number and your income. There is no draw.
2. Wait for Vonovia to call or write. It doesn't answer every request: no answer may mean the flat is gone.
3. The viewing. The invitation „Einladung zur Wohnungsbesichtigung“ names one day and one time, and you meet in front of the house. There is no slot to book.
4. Reserve the flat at the viewing if you want it. Vonovia writes a reservation record and asks for your documents by email.
5. The credit check. Once you've signed the reservation, Vonovia checks your credit itself. You send no SCHUFA report.
6. The lease in the app. An email brings your access data for the app „Mein Vonovia“, where you confirm the lease and upload your documents.

Sources: Vonovia, find a home · Vonovia, privacy policy, on letting · Vonovia, the app „Mein Vonovia“ · the request form on Vonovia's listings · an invitation from Vonovia's letting support, September 2026, for a flat of Deutsche Wohnen

Vonovia's emails, and the one not to miss

Vonovia writes in German, and the email that invites you and the one that turns you down start alike: „wir freuen uns über Ihre Anfrage und Ihr Interesse an unserem Wohnungsangebot“ (we're glad of your request and your interest in our flat). Read the subject, not the first line:

• „Einladung zur Wohnungsbesichtigung“ (invitation to a viewing), with the flat's street: you're invited. The email names the day and the time („Die Besichtigung findet am … um … Uhr vor Ort statt“) and where to meet: „Der Treffpunkt ist zur genannten Uhrzeit vor dem Haus“, in front of the house at that time. Put it in your calendar at once: there is no link to book or to confirm.
• „Ihre Immobilienanfrage“ (your property request), with the flat's street: not this time. Vonovia can't consider you for now and offers you no viewing. It writes again if none of the people it invited turns out to be a suitable tenant.
• „Mietobjekt“ (rental property), with the street and the flat's number: the flat is no longer available.
• Emails with your personal access data (Zugangsdaten) and an access code (Zugangscode): you sign the lease with them in Vonovia's app (step 6).

Many requests get no email at all: Vonovia says it can't answer every one, and that no answer may mean the flat is no longer available.

Vonovia's letting emails come from vonovia.de addresses: its letting staff's, with their own names, and its letting support's, vermietungssupport@vonovia.de.

Sources: Vonovia's emails to an applicant, March and November 2026 · an invitation from vermietungssupport@vonovia.de, September 2026, for a flat of Deutsche Wohnen, Vonovia's group company · the request form on Vonovia's listings · Vonovia, the app „Mein Vonovia“

1. The request

Vonovia lists its flats on vonovia.de, under „Zuhause finden“ (find a home), and in its app „Mein Vonovia“. Each listing gives the cold rent (Kaltmiete), the deposit (Kaution) and a contact person (Ansprechpartner) by name.

„Objekt anfragen“ (request the property) on the listing opens Vonovia's form. It asks for your first and last name, your phone number and your email address, and for a flat to rent two questions in German: your kind of income („Einkommensart“: your own, unemployment benefit or social assistance, a pension, or Bürgergeld) and your monthly net income („Monatliches Nettoeinkommen“): „bis 2.000 EUR“ (up to €2,000), „2.001 - 3.000 EUR“, „über 3.000 EUR“ (over €3,000) or „keine Angabe“ (not stated). All of them are required. A message is optional and may be at most 2,000 characters long.

Write your phone number as digits alone, 8 to 15 of them, with a + in front if you like and no spaces: the form takes no other. Vonovia may call you on it.

You upload no files with your request: Vonovia asks for documents later, by email.

After „Absenden“ (send), the page says „Vielen Dank! Ihre Nachricht wurde erfolgreich verschickt“: your request is sent.

Sources: Vonovia, find a home · Vonovia, your application file · the request form on Vonovia's listings, November 2026

2. Waiting for Vonovia

There is no draw. After your request Vonovia gets in touch, by phone or by email, to talk about the next steps. It invites some of the people who asked to a viewing, and doesn't say how it picks them.

It doesn't answer every request: so many people ask that it can't. If you hear nothing, the flat may no longer be available: Vonovia suggests looking for others on its site or in its app.

Asking about your request won't help much: neither the form nor Vonovia's hotline can tell you how it stands. Questions about a request or a viewing go only to the contact person named on the listing.

If you aren't invited, the email „Ihre Immobilienanfrage“ may tell you so (see Vonovia's emails above).

Sources: Vonovia, find a home, questions and answers · Vonovia, privacy policy, on letting · the request form on Vonovia's listings · Vonovia's email „Ihre Immobilienanfrage“, November 2026

3. The viewing

Vonovia sets the time. Its invitation „Einladung zur Wohnungsbesichtigung“ names one day and one time, and the meeting point: in front of the house, at that time. There is no slot to choose and no link to confirm, so be there.

Can't come, or have a question? Write to the contact person named on the listing: Vonovia takes questions about a viewing there alone.

Bring your documents printed: Vonovia likes to see them at the viewing, though it checks them only once you have reserved the flat.

Sources: an invitation from vermietungssupport@vonovia.de, September 2026, for a flat of Deutsche Wohnen, Vonovia's group company · the request form on Vonovia's listings · Vonovia, your application file

4. Reserving the flat

If you like the flat at the viewing, you can reserve it. Vonovia writes a reservation record (Reservierungsprotokoll) and asks you for every document the lease needs. Send the documents it asks for after the first contact by email.

What it asks for, as a rule:

• a copy of a valid ID card or of a valid residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel);
• your last three payslips;
• a self-disclosure (Mieterselbstauskunft).

You need no SCHUFA report: Vonovia checks your credit itself (step 5).

Have them ready as files before your first request: Vonovia's own advice is to put your file together before you start looking. What a landlord may ask for, and when, is in our guide Applying for a flat.

Sources: Vonovia, privacy policy, on letting · Vonovia, your application file · Vonovia, find a home, questions and answers

5. The credit check

Once you've signed the reservation record, Vonovia checks your credit, and any guarantor's, through a credit agency such as infoscore or Creditreform, which sends it a score. That is why Vonovia asks for no SCHUFA report.

Beside it, Vonovia works out from your answers in the reservation how well the flat suits you. If both turn out well, it can offer you the flat. If the credit check is negative or the fit unclear, a person at Vonovia looks at it again and talks to you. A flat that doesn't suit you leaves you free to apply for Vonovia's others.

Sources: Vonovia, privacy policy, on letting · Vonovia, your application file

6. The lease in the app

Vonovia's leases are signed online, with no paper, in its app „Mein Vonovia“. First an email brings your personal access data. Then:

• install the app from Google Play or the App Store and register with your email address and a password;
• tap the link in the email that confirms your address, and sign in;
• enter the access code Vonovia emailed you, with your customer number (Kundennummer);
• confirm the lease and upload the documents it needs, such as your ID card and your proof of income.

Vonovia tells you once it has checked everything.

Sources: Vonovia, the app „Mein Vonovia“ · Vonovia, find a home, questions and answers

Flats that need a WBS

Vonovia says it has flats that need a WBS, and points to a filter of its search: under „Wohnberechtigungsschein“, tick „WBS vorhanden“ (WBS held). Read each listing all the same: in November 2026 the filter still showed every one of Vonovia's Berlin flats, and none of them named a WBS.

Not sure whether you'd get a WBS? Our WBS calculator works it out in a minute.

Sources: Vonovia, find a home, questions and answers · Vonovia's search for flats in Berlin, November 2026

Vonovia or Deutsche Wohnen?

Deutsche Wohnen belongs to Vonovia: of Vonovia's 130,000 flats in Berlin, about 100,000 are Deutsche Wohnen's. It lists them on its own site, deutsche-wohnen.com, and Vonovia's search doesn't show them. To see the whole group's flats, search both.

Sources: Vonovia, press release of 23 June 2026 · Deutsche Wohnen, flats to rent · Vonovia, find a home

No money before the lease

Vonovia never asks you for a deposit or rent before the lease is signed, and it charges applicants no reservation fee and no commission. A letter or a call that asks you for money first may be a fraud: tell Vonovia's customer service at once.

Its customer service is on +49 234 414 700 000, Monday to Thursday 8:00 to 18:00 and Friday 8:00 to 15:00. It speaks German, English and Turkish, and if the person you reach doesn't speak English, it calls you back in English.

Sources: Vonovia, find a home, its security notice · Vonovia, customer service

Questions people ask about Vonovia

Does Vonovia ask for a SCHUFA report, and can you get a flat with a SCHUFA entry?

Vonovia asks for no SCHUFA report: it checks your credit itself, through a credit agency such as infoscore or Creditreform, once you've signed the reservation record (more on this). If that check is negative, a person at Vonovia looks at whether it can offer you the flat all the same, and talks to you about what is open. If the flat doesn't suit you, you can still apply for Vonovia's others.

Does Vonovia have flats that need a WBS?

Yes, Vonovia says: some of its flats are publicly funded, and for those you prove you're entitled with a WBS. Its search has the filter „WBS vorhanden“ (WBS held) for them, but in November 2026 it showed the same Berlin flats as without it, and none of them named a WBS (more on this).

How do you rent a Vonovia flat, and do you need an account?

You request the flat through „Objekt anfragen“ (request the property) on its listing at vonovia.de, on Vonovia's own form and with no account: it asks your name, your phone number, your email address and your income (more on this). You need an account only for the lease: you sign it in the app „Mein Vonovia“, where you register with your email address and a password (more on this).

How long does Vonovia take to answer?

Vonovia names no time: after you send the form, the page says only that it will get in touch „schnellstmöglich“ (as soon as possible). So many people ask that it doesn't answer every request; if you hear nothing, the flat may no longer be available, and neither the form nor the hotline can tell you how your request stands (more on this).

What happens after you request a Vonovia flat?

Vonovia gets in touch to talk about the next steps and invites some of the people who asked to a viewing: the invitation names one day and one time, and you meet in front of the house (more on this). If you like the flat, you reserve it there; then Vonovia checks your documents and your credit, and you sign the lease in the app „Mein Vonovia“.

Which documents does Vonovia want?

As a rule a copy of your valid ID card or residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel), your last three payslips and a self-disclosure (Mieterselbstauskunft), but no SCHUFA report (more on this). You upload nothing with your request: send the documents Vonovia asks for after the first contact by email, and it checks them only once you've reserved the flat.

Sources: Vonovia, find a home, questions and answers · Vonovia, your application file · Vonovia, privacy policy, on letting · Vonovia, the app „Mein Vonovia“ · the request form on Vonovia's listings, November 2026 · Vonovia's search for flats in Berlin, November 2026 · an invitation from Vonovia's letting support, September 2026, for a flat of Deutsche Wohnen