Software-Landschaften und Einsatz von digitalen Lösungen in Wohnungsunternehmen

This resource is a report titled “Software-Landschaften und Einsatz von digitalen Lösungen in Wohnungsunternehmen” (GdW Information 171), published by the German housing federation GdW Bundesverband deutscher Wohnungs- und Immobilienunternehmen e.V. The authors are Claus Wedemeier, Arne Rajchowski, and Timo Wanke. It documents results from a sector-wide survey of German housing companies on their software landscapes and use of digital solutions across core processes, with the stated aim of helping organisations benchmark their digital maturity and plan improvements.

The survey contacted 2,587 housing companies organised in GdW regional associations; 1,042 participated, corresponding to a 40.3% participation rate. Results are structured by federal state, legal form, and number of residential units, and the questionnaire covers 19 application areas ranging from core administrative systems (ERP) to tenant communication, maintenance, ESG reporting, and building-related digital solutions.

On the predominant operating model for IT applications, 38.6% reported running software in-house with their own IT team. A further 5.6% use external data centres while retaining in-house operations, 28.8% rely on external service providers to operate hosted solutions, and 27.0% use SaaS models. The report notes that around a quarter of respondents have moved central applications such as Microsoft Office and ERP infrastructure to the cloud, with medium-sized companies showing stronger cloud uptake than very small or very large organisations.

ERP systems remain the backbone for managing housing master data and commercial business processes. 85.4% of respondents use an ERP from a software provider, while 8.4% plan to change their ERP. Aareon products dominate: Wodis Sigma is the most frequently named solution (35.1% of ERP users), followed by GAP Immotion (20.2%), Wodis Yuneo (9.2%), and others. The report highlights that ERP adoption is high across company sizes and legal forms, and that market variety persists but with clear concentration among a small set of vendors.

Digital tenant communication shows significant growth potential. 23.4% already use a tenant portal or tenant app, while 31.6% plan to introduce one; 45% neither use nor plan such tools. Adoption rises with organisational size (e.g., 70% among companies with over 10,000 units versus 9% among those under 500 units). For CRM and ticket management, 19.3% use a ticketing system, while 53.3% use no software and have no plans; the remaining respondents either plan introduction or cover the need via ERP. Provider lists in these areas overlap with portal/app solutions, reflecting integrated front-end/back-end setups in customer communication workflows.

Digital archiving is widely used: 53.6% use an external archiving system and 14.3% cover archiving fully within ERP; 16.7% have no software and no plans. The most frequently cited archiving solution is Aareon Archiv Kompakt (53.1% of those using an external system). For maintenance and contractor integration (“Handwerkerkopplung”), 23.7% use dedicated software, 27.2% cover it in ERP, and 37% have no software and no plans. In mobile field processes such as apartment handover, 29.1% already use a mobile solution and 26.8% plan to introduce one, suggesting continued digitalisation of on-site documentation and data transfer into core systems.

Despite increasing ESG reporting requirements and decarbonisation pressure, software support for ESG reporting remains rare: 4.5% use a dedicated ESG reporting solution and 22.3% plan to introduce one, while 69.3% have no such software and no plans. The report indicates that many organisations expect to rely on spreadsheets and dispersed data sources for compliance-relevant information. In building automation, heating control, and energy management, 8.4% use software solutions and 21.2% are planning adoption, while 8.4% fully outsource energy management to contractors or metering service providers.

Digital access solutions show low uptake: 16.4% use software for access control and 6.4% plan adoption, while 77.3% report no software and no plans. BIM and 3D building models are also uncommon: 85.9% report no BIM/visualisation and no plans, and 9.0% report planned pilots. Smart home and ambient assisted living (AAL) solutions installed or provided by housing companies are rare (4.3% in use; 10.5% planned). The report portrays these domains as early-stage for broad adoption compared with more mature administrative and document-management applications.