Time has taken its toll on Berlin’s once famous affordable housing market. Like many other up and coming cities before (Paris in the 60’s, San Francisco in the 80’s, Brooklyn since the 90’s), the German capital’s attractive lifestyle has brought many newcomers wanting to have a piece of the pie too.
This has a triggered a sharp increase on the demand side in a city where landlords use to struggle to even find tenants ever since the end the beginning of the cold war. As result, rents have steadily been going up at rate that often goes faster than the average income. This is very concerning when in average, people spend 35% to 40% of their income on rent alone in Germany.
This impacts locals and expats alike but the good news are that there are ways to decrease your rent when the conditions are right. This takes a bit of courage and a bit of knowledge to pull off, but it is possible to fight back! Landlords will try to deny, to impress or to pressure you. However, the following ways to decrease your rent in Germany are perfectly legal. So put on your on best David suit, it’s time to fight again Goliath!
Disclaimer 1: In this post, i use landlords and Hausvewaltung interchangeably.
Disclaimer 2: You don’t live in Berlin? No problem! All the tips i’m writing about here are also applicable Germany wide (except point 4 which works mostly for bigger cities.).
Disclaimer 3: It’s a long read, but it’s worth it to save some €€€.
1 – Defects – Mängeln
We all want to live in a clean, comfortable and warm place. But an apartment or house is wearing down with time. It’s up to the landlord to make sure it’s still a fitting place to live for tenants. Some landlords are however adopting a more “laissez-faire” approach in order to maximize the money they receives from you.
The logic? Less money invested in the up keep means a better return on investment for the landlord
However, the law (§§ 535 ff. BGB) clearly states that the landlord must maintain the place proper & defect-free. If any defects are notified by the tenant to the landlord (in writing), the landlord must take action to resolve the situation. You can also require the rent to be decreased until this has been solved.
Defects such as these ones qualify; damage resulting from humidity (like marks on walls or ceiling), mildew, bad air flow, malfunctioning heating or hot-water tank, clogged pipes, windows that let cold air in, undrinkable water supply.
Please note that before the law, these defects must durably impact your life negatively to qualify as well. Pro-tip: there is probably a “Kleine Reparaturen” clause in your contract that states that you should pay for minor repairs, albeit not beyond a certain amount per year (usually around 120€). Minor defects that can be solved on this “budget” don’t qualify to lower your rent in Germany.
Also things that concern your immediate surrounding in the building can be recognized as defects; malfunctioning lift, unusable cellar lot, unusable parking space, durable bad smells or loud noises from the neighbors (harder to prove).
You can find a full-list of defect that can lead to decrease your rent on here (in German)
2 – Renovations
Many of us have maybe moved into beautiful but rather old buildings. They eventually need to be pampered. When landlords do maintain and renovate the apartment or the building where you live, it can also be recognized as a nuisance to the tenant. Facade, staircase, roof renovations can for example mean that a scaffolding is set-up, noise is generated and dust is infiltrating your flat. This can be cause for rent reductions measure too, but only if you moved in before the renovations started without any knowledge that they would happen.
3 – Neighboring nuisance – construction site
The value of your place is also measured by its immediate environment. When this environment is being transformed and impacted negatively, you can also use this as a reason to decrease your rent in Germany. A new building is built across your bedroom window, a new tram line is going past your front door, urban heating pipes are being set-up; when your place is near a construction site and you moved in before it started, you can be entitled to negotiate with your landlord.
The same goes for other on-going noise nuisance like a near-by bar/club and their loud guests, a school and loud kids, a commercial center and their loud ingoing/outgoing delivery trucks.

4 – Mietpreisbremse – Rent control in Germany
You may not have heard of it before but since June 2015, a new law tries to fight against the overly fast increase of rent prices in major German cities. This rent control Germany has set up is preventing landlords to increase their prices too much compared to the official price indicator (Mietspiegel). Under certain conditions, it effectively makes a fair amount of contracts illegal, especially newer ones.
The trick is: it is up to tenants to enforce that law!
It’s your responsibility to take that contract from that file in the back of the drawer and confront with your landlord about this. Pretty scary right? It’s not easy to turn tables when landlords have the upper hand usually. However, be reassured; merely checking if your contract complies with the law is not a reason for your landlord to throw you out or anything. It is not a valid reason for contract termination. So it doesn’t hurt to check.
Some lawyers have specialized themselves in that and now even companies too. These companies will check your contract and negotiate with your landlord on your behalf at no costs at all. They get to keep a cut of the reimbursed amount if the case is successful. If the case is not successful, then you don’t pay anything. Why not giving it a go then, especially since Berlin’s district court has recently ruled that it might be against the constitution, do it while it lasts!
Do it while it lasts!
I think i have a shot at lowering my rent, how can i proceed?
Did these few words lift your spirit about the possibility of negotiating with your landlord? That’s perfectly understandable given the fact that for lot of us, rent is eating often more than half of our monthly budget. So how to actually proceed, especially if you already rent a flat in Berlin or elsewhere in Germany.
Try on your own
This option is obviously not the easiest one. You need good negotiation, legal and language skills to pull this off. It’s not impossible but might you do mistakes along the road as well. On top of it all, you need to have time to do it; we are often talking about efforts over several months. Also don’t forget; being coercitive with your landlord is stressful (especially if you meet some resistance., if you are not taken seriously, etc.)
If you are up for it, you can find templates on the Internet to help you caliber the shot. Some examples include:
- This one for flat defects (from ImmobilienScout)
- This one for renovations works or defects (from Mietminderungstabelle)
- That one for rent control in Germany (from Test.de)
The idea is that you download the templates and edit them to fit your situation with description of defects, or renovation works, etc. (Use at your own risk. I can’t be held liable for any wrong doings).

Call a Mieterverein (a tenants’ association)
If you are already a member of a Mieterverein or plan to be, this is definitely part of their missions. They will have all the resources needed to challenge your landlord the right way with experienced legal assistance. It will cost you a membership fee and a little cooperation on your end to provide the right elements. If you don’t know where to start, you can always look for a local branch on this website.
Beware however, some tenants’ association will require you to commit to a membership; you cannot use their service as a one time thing.
Use a lawyer
Germans love their lawyers (and Steuerberaters too! :)). This is no exception for lowering your rent because of defects or applying rent control in Germany. Find a lawyer that have experience and authority in “Mietrecht” (tenancy law) to send a nice letter on your behalf. This is more costly than doing it yourself or using a Mieterverein, but it’s quite efficient because you buy the lawyer’s time to chase after your landlord.
The tricky part when hiring a lawyer is that you have to be sure that the amount you can save every month will pay off the bill he/she will send you when it’s all over. Worse even: if it doesn’t work out (and it sometimes does), you still have to pay.
Hire specialized companies.
As mentioned earlier, a lesser-known option is to have your contract checked by specialized companies which will handle all the negotiation at no cost for you, earning a fee only if you successfully win against your landlord. Part of what you saved is then ending in these companies’ pockets, as a payment. This is an interesting option that leaves little risk to you. One big plus is that they often offer their services completely in English.
It works a bit like companies like Flightright that obtain reparation in your behalf if your flight has been untimely cancelled or delayed within the E.U.
So what about that not so legal way you talked about?
**cough cough** did anyone say “squatting” ? **cough cough**. Just kidding; if you were thinking about doing that, just know that squatting is illegal in Germany.
So there we have it. Hope you found it informative. Please note that i can’t be held liable for any mishaps due to information based on this post. It is only giving a broad scope, not replacing proper legal expertise. Good luck anyway. Don’t hesitate to share your experience in the comments if you ever tried one of these.
Hi Bastian
I have question about tenant‘s right. I have a flat in Berlin and there was a water damage due to the building old pipe failure. Then the building inspector told me that i have to replace whole hardwood floor which means our tenants had to move out last 3 months and they are paid by the insurance for the hotel stay instead. During renovation they paid me as normal rent but they just sent me an e mail saying that they demand reimbursement during the construction because they could not use the apartment. Plus they do not want to move back to the apartment due to the stress dealing with the delay etc… even after finishing the renovation which means they are breaking the rental contract and still demanding last 3 month rent reimbursement. I thought staying a hotel is replacing the flat due to the damage, that’s why it’s covered by their insurance. Do they have a right to get free rent even their hotel costs were covered by their insurance..
please let me know as much as you know about the tenants right.
Thank you so much for your big help!!
Hey Kay D. Sorry to hear about your issues. I must say I know less about the other side of the court. I can only point you to trustworthy resources. I have found that there is no rule on exactly how much refund can be claimed by the tenant. It’s on a case by case basis, depending on the type and extent of damages. However, This source and this source seem to suggest that a 100% rent reduction is possible & legal, when the flat becomes completely unlivable due to damages. This source also suggests an early contract termination might also be possible, but only when the landlord has not properly/timely reacted to the damages. Please consider this as guidance & not proper legal consultation. Only a lawyer can provide that. Good luck with it all!
Hi,
Thank you for the article, it’s really helpful.
I have recently moved in an apartment and after moving in I realized that the windows are in the worst condition, there is too much inflow of air and noise from outside, effecting the heating of the apartment and allowing a lot of noise transfer. It is so bad that can hear the people talking on the street and to make matters worse, we have a club nearby which makes the place almost unlivable over the weekend. I have requested the landlord which is a big company to take action with at least providing me better windows, but they just responded that they would look into the matter but haven’t taken any action. I am also facing other problems with the taps and doors in the apartment as they are old and again there is a response, but no effort is made towards taking action. It is getting so bad that I already wanted to move out of the apartment in 2 months. Is there an action I can take to make sure this ‘building company’ takes responsibility and action for maintain the apartment? Or a way for a reduction of the rent until things are fixed and made to standard living conditions?
Thank you again.
Ak
Hey there. This typically falls under the defects case listed in the post. Make sure you keep in writing all the messages you have sent this company. This will help you prove they aren’t doing things fast enough to solve the problem, to claim a rent reduction later. You can read here my experience about fighting back here. It has some tips there too.
Hi Bastien, thanks for this article. I am in a tricky situation as my landlord although responsive but seems to always try not to take any responsibility for the upkeep of his property. Recently I had a electric switchbox issue where there was a burning smell and as it was in the evening, I decided to turn off most of the switches in the box and the smell went away but I was too afraid to turn them back on again and waited until the next day to get an electrician. Since it was the holiday, I could only manage to get an emergency electrician and unfortunately he could not find any problem but said that my apartment is not isolated so there is a possibility that the smoke smell came from my neighbour through the switchbox. Before getting the electrician, I notified my landlord about the issue and also sent her the estimate cost. She allowed me to go ahead and contact the electrician and to keep her informed. Fast forward, since the electrician could not find a problem, she is now hesitant to pay the charges which unfortunately came to a few hundred euros as it was an emergency call. I am now afraid that she will not pay me back the money. For this reason, I am wondering if I could simply reduce me rental payment for next month to reimburse the cost if she refuses to pay. She has also been careless about the electric socket in the kitchen which I found out only a year later that I would have suffered a fire if the socket was not repaired as it was connected to my dishwasher and my sink was damaged by a previous tenant that also increased the risk of water dropping to the dishwasher machine. I have been diligently paying my rent every month and it seems like she has no interest whatsoever to ensure her tenant’s or rather the safety of her own property. I am not a member of the tenant’s association yet so I would appreciate any possible advice on this matter. I do not intend to be enemies with my landlord as she may easily kick me out if she finds me too difficult to deal with so I am hoping for a more diplomatic way to solve this current issue with the switchbox. Thank you.
Hey Nairs. Sorry to hear about your issues. First off: in Germany, it’s very difficult to kick somebody out. You cannot be kicked out for demanding proper maintenance of your flat. The switch box incident is unfortunate and I cannot tell you if this is something she has to pay, since no fault/damage was found by the electrician. Was the socket in the kitchen fixed?
Hey I have a question regarding renting. if my rental contract ends in July of 2021, and I have not given any notice period for cancelling the contract, nor I have told my landlord that I would vacate my apartment.
Can my landlord force me to leave, given that he is able to withdraw the rent amount using SEPA from my bank account? Is there any buffer (grace period) at the end of the contract, before which may be he takes some action to forcefully evict me?
Hey Anish. If your contract is limited in time, you need to leave the place by law right away. A grace period is perhaps negotiable, directly with your landlord. However, limited contracts like this are a bit complicated in Germany as you can read here or here. Is it furnished? If so, other rules may apply.
Hello! This article has been really useful.
Are there any guidelines for the rent reduction amount in percentage?
In my specific case, I have a huge construction site just out of my windows (bedroom and living room) that started last May and will end in 2022. It creates a lot of noise and dust from Monday to Saturday (7 am to 6 pm), and I cannot open the windows; considering the current temperatures and that I am working from home this is pretty bad. What would it be a proper reduction request?
Thanks.
Hey Richard. I don’t think there precise guidelines about this that i could direct you to. Maybe the best is to ask for rent reduction through a consulting lawyer, that know of the current jurisprudence for this type of case. But you are definitely entitled to rent reduction yes.
Due to recent pandemic I been spending my time mostly at home.
And learn the sounds really travels in the building I live in. When they stomp around, I can hear it clearly.
I have told my neighbour I can hear them walking, dragging furniture and they said they will be more careful.
But don’t think they realise how bad it is (they live on the top floor). What can I do? I am almost considering buying them a carpet as in the early morning or evening its driving me insane.
Thank you
Hey John. I am not sure what your situation looks like, legally speaking. Trusting this source, it seems that normal everyday life noises can be not be used to reduce rent. Only extraordinary level of noise or behavior can be used. Check the source for more info.
Hello, thank you for the great article!
Do you know if it’s legal for the landlord to ask for a fee when rent isn’t paid in due time, in this case under 5 days? Does it change if the circumstances of the delay are not in the tenant’s control?
Thank you and stay safe!
Hey Alexandra. If i understand this correctly, they can bill you payment reminders. “Mahnungen”. You would need to check what is in the contract.
Hi,
Nice article. I have one question: Can I reduce the period notice once I had more than one problem in the apartment (from 3 months to 1 month)?
Hey Thiago. This is something i can’t really reply to without specifics, and even with more details, it might be a case by case thing. Better ask an expert to consult you for your situation.
How much can someone request a rent reduction? Like up to which amount is reasonable to request?
Hey Sara. The simple and unfortunate answer is: “it depends”. It depends on your case, locations and current contract conditions.
Hi and thanks for your post
Question: We lived in our apartment for 6 months, after that we got an extension for 3 months. During the extension they raised the rent 100 euro which we agreed. After the 3 month extension, they want us to sign a new lease which adds another 100 euro to the rent. Therefore in 6 months they raised the rent 200 euros which is more than 15%. Is this allowed?
BTW our apartment is furnished, not sure if that makes a difference
Hey Mark. I’m not an expert in short term rentals like this. I would consult a professional. It may be possible since those are new contracts every time it seems. In all cases, it cannot be higher than the local average prices (Mietspiegel) if a Mietpreisbremse rule is in effect in your area.
Thank you for a great article.
I am suffering a heavy industrial renovation of few (maybe just below 10 of them) apartments in the same building since May and learnt that the work will take place till next spring at shortest. I get woken up at 7 am with incredible vibration and noise. Surely there is up and down as they are not doing all apartment at once.
The problem is that I often work from home and it makes impossible as even with noise cancelling headphone the noise is quite heavy. Also the fact that I cannot make calls limits. I was hoping that this will be over soon.
The problem is they do not put up a paper stating responsible person and contacts as well as schedule at the entrance of the building which I hear that is obligated by law. Also, they are not allowed to make noise between 12:00 – 15:00. None of those is respected and I am thinking of taking actions against this.
Apology for a long post. You mentioned, “Hire specialized companies”. Could you please give us a few options. I live in Munich and it would be great if you know any that can work remotely or based also in Munich.
Thank you.
Have you tried wenigermiete.de ?
Hi, does this law apply to short-term rentals? We have a month-to-month rental, either party can terminate with one month’s notice. They did tell us before we agreed the contract that the building was going to be painted, and we said that’s fine. But I didn’t realise that huge scaffolding would cover the entire flat, with the ladders for the workers right outside our bedroom window, and they walk past all day, and that it would take this long – almost a month now and counting. I expect that we have no protection at all, and the best I can try is to negotiate something with the landlord, but it will be up to him. Thanks.
Hi James. Well, you’ve been let known about the painting works, so it’s not valid to use this as way to get out of the contract.
Thanks for your reply. I don’t want to get out of the contract. Just wondering if the law entitles me to compensation. I suppose it is worth asking. The landlord can only say no.
Hi Bastien!
My roommate stopped paying rent bc of the mold and roaches in our apartment. I suggested lowering the rent by 50EUR but he simply stopped paying. Now the landlord doesn’t want to give our deposit back 🙁 do you suggest I keep paying full rent due to all the mold that’s in our WG? Or simply cut the rent by 18%?
Hi Jimena. I am no lawyer so i can’t tell you what to do. As mentioned in the post, both options require that you have written proof you notified the landlord about this problem before. You can’t just stop paying from one day to the next.
Hi
My boyfriend and I move in August 2017 to a new flat. We had been looking for an aparment and we took the first one we received a call. On September/Oktober the couple next door move out and almost inmediatly the began to renoved. I didn’t know about 2nd tip (Renovations) until a few days ago and came here looking for some answers. The aparment is almost finish, do you know if a can still do something?
I did call my Mieter 3 months ago because I work from home and they work in the hours my contract said I couldn’t make noice because of Lunch hours. Their answer was that they couldn’t stop working because it would take to long.
Hi Gabriela. Cant be sure but this sounds like a situation that could qualify for a rent reduction, maybe even retroactively, after the consturciton is done. The landlord might try to avoid this though. The best might be to look for legal assistance if they refuse to listen to your request.
Hi Bastien,
Thank you for an amazing post.
I’ve recently moved in a flat (just two days ago). The flat is rented out by a company and the landlord lives abroad. I signed a contract which ensures a cellar but after I came here I got to know that they don’t know which cellar belongs to my flat and it seems too hard to find it out for now for the company who rented the flat to me. After so many discussions, the guy from the company started arguing over that there are so many flats without cellar and the previous tenant never used one! He said he will try to find out but that can take months. I just want to know whether I can revise my rent if they fail to provide me a cellar?
Thanks.
Hey SJ. You’d need to get in touch with a professional for a definitive answer but if they fail to come to terms with what is stated on the contract, there is certainly a way to decrease rent while they figure out this situation.