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Assurance report of the independent auditor

To the participants and the Supervisory Committee of Vesteda Residential Fund FGR

Limited assurance report of the independent auditor on the sustainability information included in integrated annual report 2023 of Vesteda Residential Fund FGR

Our conclusion

We have performed a limited assurance engagement on the non-financial information reported in the integrated Annual Report 2023 of Vesteda Residential Fund FGR (hereafter: Vesteda) at Amsterdam.

Based on our procedures performed and the assurance information obtained, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the non-financial information in the accompanying annual report does not present fairly, in all material respects:

  • The policy with regard to sustainability matters; and

  • The business operations, events and achievements in that area in 2023

in accordance with the applicable criteria as included in the ‘Criteria’ section of our report.

The non-financial information is included in the following chapters:

  • Vesteda at a glance, (page 6-8)

  • Management Report, paragraphs Market developments (pages 11-14), Societal value (pages 31-46), Organisation (pages 48-51)

  • About this report (pages 75-77)

  • Annex 5: GRI content index (pages 158-161)

  • Annex 7: Energy consumption (pages 170-172)

Basis for our conclusion

We have performed our limited assurance engagement on the sustainability information in accordance with Dutch law, including Dutch Standard 3810N ‘Assurance-opdrachten inzake duurzaamheidsverslaggeving’ (Assurance engagements relating to sustainability reports). This engagement is aimed to obtain limited assurance. Our responsibilities under this standard are further described in the ‘Our responsibilities for the assurance engagement on the non-financial information’ section of our report.

We are independent of Vesteda in accordance with the ‘Verordening inzake de onafhankelijkheid van accountants bij assurance-opdrachten’ (ViO, Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, a regulation with respect to independence). This includes that we do not perform any activities that could result in a conflict of interest with our independent assurance engagement. Furthermore, we have complied with the ‘Verordening gedrags- en beroepsregels accountants’ (VGBA, Dutch Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants).

We believe that the assurance evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion.

Criteria

The reporting criteria applied for the preparation of the sustainability information are the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) and the reporting criteria supplementally applied (Vesteda reporting manual).

The sustainability information is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards. The GRI Standards used are listed in the GRI Content index as disclosed on page 158-161 of the annual report.

The comparability of sustainability information between entities and over time may be affected by the absence of a uniform practice on which to draw, to evaluate and measure this information. This allows for the application of different, but acceptable, measurement techniques.

Consequently, the sustainability information needs to be read and understood together with the criteria applied.

Materiality

Based on our professional judgement we determined materiality levels for each relevant sustainability matter. When evaluating our materiality levels, we considered quantitative and qualitative aspects as well as the relevance of information for both stakeholders and Vesteda.

Limitations to the scope of our assurance engagement

The sustainability information includes prospective information such as ambitions, strategy, plans, expectations, and estimates and risk assessments. Prospective information relates to events and actions that have not yet occurred and may never occur. We do not provide any assurance on the assumptions and achievability of this prospective information.

The references to external sources or websites in the sustainability information are not part of the sustainability information as included in the scope of our assurance engagement. We therefore do not provide assurance on this information.

Our conclusion is not modified in respect to these matters.

Responsibilities of the Management Board and the Supervisory Committee for the non-financial information

The Management Board is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the non-financial information in accordance with the criteria as included in the ‘Criteria’ section, including the identification of stakeholders and the definition of material matters. The Management Board is also responsible for selecting and applying the criteria and for determining that these criteria are suitable for the legitimate information needs of stakeholders, considering applicable law and regulations related to reporting. The choices made by the Management Board regarding the scope of the non-financial information and the reporting policy are summarised in the chapter "About this report" of the annual report.

Furthermore, the Management Board is responsible for such internal control as it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the non-financial information that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

The Supervisory Committee is responsible for overseeing the non-financial reporting process of Vesteda.

Our responsibilities for the review of the non-financial information

Our responsibility is to plan and perform the assurance engagement in a manner that allows us to obtain sufficient and appropriate assurance evidence for our conclusion.

Our assurance engagement is aimed to obtain a limited level of assurance to determine the plausibility of information. The procedures vary in nature and timing from, and are less in extent, than for a reasonable assurance engagement. The level of assurance obtained in a limited assurance engagement is therefore substantially less than the assurance that is obtained when a reasonable assurance engagement is performed.

We apply the ‘Nadere voorschriften kwaliteitssystemen)’ (NVKS, regulations for Quality management systems) and accordingly maintain a comprehensive system of quality management including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards and other relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

Our limited assurance engagement included among others:

  • Performing an analysis of the external environment and obtaining an understanding of relevant non-financial information themes and issues, and the characteristics of the company.

  • Evaluating the appropriateness of the criteria applied, their consistent application and related disclosures in the non-financial information. This includes the evaluation of the company’s materiality assessment and the reasonableness of estimates made by the Management Board.

  • Obtaining through inquiries a general understanding of the internal control environment, the reporting processes, the information systems and the entity’s risk assessment process relevant to the preparation of the sustainability information, without obtaining assurance information about the implementation or testing the operating effectiveness of controls.

  • Identifying areas of the non-financial information where misleading or unbalanced information or a material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, is likely to arise. Designing and performing further assurance procedures aimed at determining the plausibility of the non-financial information responsive to this risk analysis. These procedures consisted among others of:

    • obtaining inquiries from management and/or relevant staff at corporate level responsible for the sustainability strategy, policy and results;

    • obtaining inquiries from relevant staff responsible for providing the information for, carrying out internal procedures on, and consolidating the data in the sustainability information;

    • obtaining assurance evidence that the non-financial information reconciles with underlying records of the company;

    • reviewing, on a limited test basis, relevant internal and external documentation;

    • considering the data and trends.

  • Reconciling the relevant financial information with the financial statements.

  • Considering the overall presentation and balanced content of the non-financial information.

  • Considering whether the non-financial information as a whole, including the non-financial matters and disclosures, is clearly and adequately disclosed in accordance with applicable criteria.

We communicate with the Supervisory Committee regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the assurance engagement and significant findings that we identify during our assurance engagement.

Amsterdam, 15 March 2024

Deloitte Accountants B.V.

Signed on the original: V.S. Borreman