Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

HOUSING

These are the German cities where rents have been going up the most

A new study released on Wednesday shows an increase in average annual rent prices for new rentals in big cities across Germany such as Munich and Berlin.

Published: 20 September 2017 12:00 CEST

These are the German cities where rents have been going up the most

Apartment buildings in Leipzig. Photo: DPA.

If you haven't moved into a new place in a major German city since 2011, you’ve likely had a bit of luck and avoided sharp rental increases in recent years, as this graph shows.

Munich takes the top spot for the city in Germany with the largest increase in average annual rent costs over the past six years, according to research by the letting website immowelt.de.

In the Bavarian capital, tenants have to pay on average €5,640 more per year for a new rental contract in 2017 compared to what they would have paid for a contract signed in 2011 – perhaps unsurprising given the city's reputation within Germany as being most unaffordable.

The nation’s capital saw the second largest increase, with yearly rents in 2011 at €6,840. That figure has increased significantly; now in Berlin rent costs about €11,520 annually.

READ ALSO: Berlin rents shot up by nearly 10 percent in two years: report

Stuttgart had the third largest rent increase. Residents there have to pay €3,240 more for a flat now than they would have had to do in 2011.

Further down the graph, with lower rent prices than larger cities like Hamburg or Frankfurt, Leipzig still showed a considerable rent increase. In the eastern German city – nicknamed Hypezig for its cool reputation – it now costs €2,160 more to rent a flat than it did in 2011, when it only cost €5,400.

Six years ago Leipzig was also the cheapest of the 14 German cities in the study. Now that’s no longer the case, as the west German city of Dortmund takes that spot.

Rents in cities in the Ruhr area such as Essen and Dortmund recorded comparatively low growth. Still, annual flat rates today in these two cities respectively cost €840 and €1,080 more than they did six years ago.

Just under 54,000 rental flats between 80 to 120 square metres were examined during the first half of 2011 and 2017 for the statistics collected in this study. The apartments had been posted on the real estate website immowelt.de.

How a German 'Mieterverein' can help you reduce your rent

There’s a truism that applies to many areas of life in Germany: there are plenty of rules and legal protections, but the vast majority of people don’t know them.

This feels particularly real when it comes to the world of renters’ rights. As a nation that generally prefers to rent than to buy, Germany has a huge range of in-built protections for tenants – but that doesn’t always stop landlords from bending the rules.

The best way to make sure you’re getting a fair deal is to try and get familiar with your rights, or enlist the help of somebody who knows them inside-out.

That’s where the concept of the Mieterverein, or tenants’ association, comes in. These member-only organisations are there to advocate for the rights of tenants, keeping illegally high rents and other dodgy practices in check for renters in Germany.

These types of associations can be a life-saver for foreigners who may struggle with the German language and German law, and could even help you save money in the long run.

What is a Mieterverein?

A Mieterverein, or tenants’ association, is exactly what it sounds like: an organisation that stands up for the rights of tenants. It works by offering affordable memberships for renters – usually costing somewhere between €50 and €100 per year – which is then used to provide legal advice and representation, as well as advocacy and lobbying work.

Ultimately, the idea is about strength in numbers. Instead of a single tenant taking on a big landlord like Vonovia or Deutsche Wohnen, a collective approach gives renters both more bargaining power and more resources.

Following this principle, many of the regional Mietervereine have clubbed together to create tenants’ associations in their state, which ultimately belong to the Germany-wide umbrella association, the Deutscher Mieterbund (DMB).

There are 320 associations currently active in the DMB, with the largest being the Berliner Mieterverein with more than 190,000 members. This is followed by Hamburg, with 78,000 members, and Munich, with 63,000.

READ ALSO: How foreign residents in Germany are winning rent reductions

Members rely on tenants’ associations to assist with anything to do with Germany’s tenancy law. That means poring over rental contracts, ironing out difficulties with landlords, challenging rent increases or overly high rents, and fighting unfair or illegal evictions.

Of course, one of the most compelling reasons to join is to keep high rents in check – and find out if you could be eligible for a reduction.

How can a Mieterverein help lower my rent?

Though it may not always feel like it, the vast majority of areas with a tight housing situation in Germany are subject to fairly stringent rental controls, known as the Mietpreisbremse.

These controls were mandated in a 2015 law that has recently been extended to 2029. Though there are some loopholes, the rules generally dictate that cold rents should be no more than 10 percent above the average rent for comparable properties in the same neighbourhood.

READ ALSO: German rent brake to be extended until 2029: What you need to know

The ways for calculating this are complicated but all you really need to know is that they are based on something called the Mietspiegel: a huge table charting the average rent prices based on factors like a property’s size, location, age and facilities.

Berlin prenzlauer Berg

Flats in the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Monika Skolimowska

One service tenants’ associations can offer is to compare your rent against the Mietspiegel to see if you’re being charged too much.

To do this, they’ll look at your contract and ask you a series of questions about your rental property. If it turns out the rent is illegally high, Mieterverein lawyers can help you draft a letter to officially challenge your rent and ask for it to be reduced.

Some tenants’ associations also offer legal protection insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung) as part of their memberships, which can help you deal with any issues that may arise with the landlord later on.

What about annual rent increases?

In most cases, these can be disputed as well. Under the Mietpreisbremse rules, rents can be raised by a maximum of 20 percent in the space of three years. This can be good grounds to challenge a big annual increase in rent – but it isn’t the only way.

The legal representatives at your local Mieterverein will be able to help you dispute increases in rent, as long as you don’t agree to these increases straight away.

Once again, the increases may be based on a shaky foundation of illegally high rents to start with, so it’s always worth getting everything checked over in full by a qualified lawyer.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on any issues with your apartment, such as broken fixtures and fittings, because these can be grounds for a rent reduction until the problem is fixed.

READ ALSO: How to get a rent reduction for problems in your German flat

Advisors at the Mietervereine will not only be able to tell you what are grounds for a Mietminderung (temporary rent reduction), but also how much you could be entitled to.

SHOW COMMENTS

Url copied to clipboard!