Germany: renting property

In a tight market you cannot set the rent freely. Where the state has declared a strained housing market, the rent at the start of a new tenancy may be at most 10% above the local comparative rent (§556d BGB) — extended to 31 December 2029. Exempt: homes first used and let after 1 October 2014.

Whoever hires the agent pays the agent. Since June 2015 an agent who already holds a letting instruction from the landlord may not charge the tenant a commission at all — and the fee is capped at two cold rents. If you are asked to pay for an agent you did not engage, you do not owe it.

Three cold rents is the ceiling — the rent without heating and service charges. Anything agreed above it is void, and the excess can be reclaimed at any time, however long ago you paid it.

You may pay the deposit in three monthly instalments — the first when the tenancy starts, the other two with the next two rents. A landlord demanding it all up front is asking for something they cannot enforce.

The deposit is not the landlord’s money. It must be held apart from their own funds and earn interest — and the interest belongs to the tenant. If the landlord goes bankrupt, money kept separately is out of reach of the creditors.