Renting in Germany in 2026 – the rent brake, deposits, scams and what buying costs
Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →
Only 41.9 per cent of households in Germany owned their home in 2022, and just 15.9 per cent in Berlin. Here is what renting in Germany involves in 2026 – the rent brake, deposits, agents' fees, notice and scams – and what it costs if you decide to buy.
Renting in Germany follows federal law, but the rent brake is switched on city by city. A federal law of 17 July 2025, promulgated on 22 July 2025, lets the Länder keep the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) in force until 31 December 2029 at the latest. Berlin and Hamburg have both renewed their regulations for the whole city from 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2029.
Rents are still rising, if more slowly than prices overall. Net cold rents in the consumer price index were 1.9 per cent higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, against inflation of 2.9 per cent, according to Destatis (the Federal Statistical Office). In its 2022 microcensus, households that moved in 2019 or later paid €8.4 per square metre in net cold rent, against €7.4 on average.
How does the rent brake work in Germany?
In areas a Land designates by regulation as tight housing markets, the rent at the start of a new tenancy may be at most 10 per cent above the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete (local comparative rent). The big cities publish it in a Mietspiegel (rent index).
There are exceptions: flats first used and let after 1 October 2014, the first letting after comprehensive modernisation, and cases where the previous tenant already paid more – that rent may be kept. A landlord who relies on an exception must tell you before you sign. If you complain within 30 months of the start of the tenancy, you can reclaim the excess rent from the start.
| City | Rent brake | Average net cold rent in the rent index |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Whole city, from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2029 | €7.71 per m² (Mietspiegel 2026), up 6.9 per cent on 2024; €9.67 in contracts signed in the last six years |
| Hamburg | Whole city, extended from 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2029 | €9.94 per m² (Mietenspiegel 2025) |
| Munich (Bavaria) | Applies to contracts concluded from 7 August 2019, under a Bavarian regulation | €15.38 per m² (Mietspiegel 2025), up 5.5 per cent on 2023 |
Source: Land Berlin, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the City of Munich, read 23 September 2026.
Berlin is checking. In its first automated Mietenscan (rent scan) of online ads, in June 2026, 46 per cent of 4,539 assessed listings were suspected of breaking the rent limits, and landlords are being written to. According to the Senate, a rent more than 20 per cent above the comparative rent can be an administrative offence, and more than 50 per cent criminal rent usury. Berlin's free, official Mietpreisprüfstelle (rent-check office) has existed since March 2025, and the Servicetelefon Miete answers questions on (030) 90173-3860.
What does renting in Germany cost, and what are your rights?
The Kaution (deposit) is capped at three months' rent excluding operating costs, and you may pay it in three equal monthly instalments. Your landlord must keep it separate from their own money in an interest-bearing account, and the interest is yours.
Rent is due at the latest on the third working day of the month. If you pay advance service charges, the landlord must send the annual statement within 12 months of the end of the accounting period; after that, back-payments generally can no longer be claimed. Every household also pays the Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee) of €18.36 a month per dwelling – part 13 has the details.
| Topic | What the law says |
|---|---|
| Agent's fee | Nothing, unless the agent took on the flat solely because of your own search mandate – then at most two months' net rent plus VAT, and no admin fees |
| Rent rise in a running tenancy | Up to the comparative rent once the rent has been unchanged for 15 months; at most 20 per cent in three years, or 15 per cent where the Land says so, as in Berlin |
| Graduated or index rent | Must be agreed in writing; each level stays unchanged for at least a year |
| Modernisation | Annual rent up by 8 per cent of the costs, but at most €3 per m² more a month within six years (€2 below €7 per m²) |
| Your notice | In writing, by the third working day of a month, to the end of the month after next |
| Landlord's notice | Only with a legitimate interest, never to raise the rent; longer after five and after eight years |
Source: the Civil Code, the Housing Brokerage Act and Land Berlin, read 23 September 2026.
How do you find a flat in Germany without being scammed?
The police crime-prevention programme of the Länder and the Federal Government warns of advance-payment fraud: a supposed landlord who is abroad and will send the keys by courier once you transfer the deposit, or 'fees' for a viewing, which reputable agents and landlords never charge. Requests for copies of your ID can be used for identity theft. Never transfer money in advance to people you do not know.
Once you move in, the landlord must confirm it in writing – the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (landlord's confirmation) – within the two weeks you have for the Anmeldung (address registration) at the Bürgeramt (citizens' office). In Berlin a rental contract does not replace it. Late registration can be fined up to €1,000, and offering an address for a registration when nobody actually lives there up to €50,000.
On a low income, ask about subsidised housing, which the Länder administer. In Berlin almost all social flats require a Wohnberechtigungsschein (housing entitlement certificate), WBS 100 or WBS 140; the forms are at the district Bürgeramt. In Munich you register with the Office for Housing and Migration and search on the SOWON platform; processing takes around 8 months, and about 3,000 flats a year are newly allocated against about 38,000 applications. Wohngeld (housing benefit) subsidises the rent of about 1.2 million low-income households.
What does buying a home in Germany cost?
Residential property prices rose 1.4 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2026, according to Destatis; flats in the seven largest cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, rose only 0.3 per cent. The average effective interest rate on new housing loans to households was 3.94 per cent in July 2026, according to the Bundesbank.
| Cost or rule | What applies |
|---|---|
| Grunderwerbsteuer (land transfer tax) | Set by each Land: 6 per cent in Berlin (since 1 January 2014), 3.5 per cent in Bavaria, including Munich; the federal default is 3.5 per cent |
| Estate agent | If the agent works for both sides, both pay the same commission; otherwise the other side pays at most as much, and only after the side that hired the agent has paid |
| Mortgage | The lender must check that you are likely to repay; you have 14 days to withdraw; a fixed-rate loan can always be ended after ten years with six months' notice |
| Jung kauft Alt (since 3 September 2024) | Reduced-interest KfW loans for families with a minor child and taxable household income up to €90,000, plus €10,000 per further child, buying an energy class F, G or H home to live in and renovating it within 54 months |
Source: the Land Transfer Tax Act, the Bavarian State Tax Office, Land Berlin, the Civil Code, the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Ministry for Housing, read 23 September 2026.
What to do now
| Step | What | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check whether your city has a rent brake, and look up its rent index | Before you view flats |
| 2 | Never send money to someone you have not met for a flat you have not seen | Throughout your search |
| 3 | Check the rent against the comparative rent plus 10 per cent, or ask which exception applies | Before you sign |
| 4 | Pay the deposit in three monthly instalments if that helps | From the start of the tenancy |
| 5 | Get the landlord's confirmation and register your address | Within two weeks of moving in |
| 6 | Complain about rent above the limit – in Berlin the Mietpreisprüfstelle checks it free | Within 30 months of the start |
Source: the Civil Code, the Federal Registration Act, the police crime-prevention programme and Land Berlin, read 23 September 2026.
Official sources
The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.
- Destatis – Federal Statistical Office – Wohnen, table Mieten nach Gemeindetyp 2022 · destatis.de
- Destatis – Federal Statistical Office – Eigentumsquote 2022 · destatis.de
- Destatis – Federal Statistical Office – Wohnungsbe · destatis.de
- Destatis – Federal Statistical Office – press release no. 320 of 10 Sept 2026 · destatis.de
- Destatis – Federal Statistical Office – press release no. 219 of 25 June 2026 · destatis.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB § 551 · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB §§ 573c, 568; BMJV · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB § 573 · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB § 558 · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB § 556d;… · gesetze-im-internet.de
- Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) – Mietrecht · bmjv.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB §§ 557a, 557b; BMJV · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB § 559 · gesetze-im-internet.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text –… · gesetze-im-internet.de
- Polizeiliche Kriminalprävention der Länder und des Bundes · polizei-beratung.de
- Land Berlin – press release of 11 Nov 2025 (Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing) · berlin.de
- Land Berlin – Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing – Berliner Mietratgeber: Miete · berlin.de
- Land Berlin – Berliner Mietspiegel 2026, documentation (July 2026) · mietspiegel.berlin.de
- Land Berlin – press release of 22 July 2026 (SenSBW) · berlin.de
- Land Berlin – Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing – Mieterschutz; press release 11 Nov 2025 · berlin.de
- Land Berlin – Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing – Wohnberechtigungsschein · berlin.de
- Landeshauptstadt München – Mietspiegel · stadt.muenchen.de
- Landeshauptstadt München – Mietberatung · stadt.muenchen.de
- Landeshauptstadt München – Subsidised housing (Sozialreferat) · stadt.muenchen.de
- Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg – Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen · hamburg.de
- Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg – Methodenbericht Mietenspiegel 2025 · dokumente.hamburg.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – GrEStG § 11;… · service.berlin.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB §§ 656c, 656d · gesetze-im-internet.de
- Deutsche Bundesbank – MFI interest rate statistics (time series BBIM1.M.DE.B.A2C.A.R.A.2250.EUR.N) · api.statistiken.bundesbank.de
- gesetze-im-internet.de (Federal Ministry of Justice / Federal Office of Justice) – law text – BGB §§ 505a, 495, 355, 489 · gesetze-im-internet.de
- Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) · bmwsb.bund.de
- Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) – Wohngeld-Plus · bmwsb.bund.de
- Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) – Sozialer Wohnungsbau · bmwsb.bund.de
- ARD ZDF Deutschlandradio Beitragsservice · rundfunkbeitrag.de
Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.