The Verband Sächsischer Wohnungsgenossenschaften e.V. (VSWG) is based in Dresden and serves housing cooperatives across the Free State of Saxony. It combines the roles of statutory auditing association and professional and interest representative for the state’s housing cooperatives. 21
The VSWG represents 198 Saxon housing cooperatives, according to its organisational portrait. It represents their interests at social, state-policy and economic levels, including in discussions with Saxony’s government, ministries and political parties. 5 The cooperatives it represents account for around 300,000 homes and provide housing for approximately half a million people in Saxony. 5
As a statutory auditing association, the VSWG examines cooperatives’ financial circumstances and management, including their accounts and annual reports. It was authorised to carry out this role by the Saxon Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour in 1991; that date is the year of authorisation, not a confirmed founding date. 5
The association also supports its members through legal, business, social and public-relations advice; seminars and workshops; specialist committees; and events for information-sharing and networking. Its training is delivered online, at its Dresden premises, in Saxon regions and at individual cooperatives. 5 The VSWG also represents Saxon cooperative interests nationally through the GdW, the German housing and real-estate industry federation, and maintains contacts with housing-industry associations in Germany and Europe. 5
The VSWG’s current listed leadership includes board members Mirjam Philipp and Prof. Dr. Klaus-Peter Hillebrand. Susann Sembdner is named as chair of the association council. 2