Finding a flat in Berlin

Before you start

• A realistic monthly budget for the warm rent (rent including operating and heating costs)
• A ready-to-send application folder (see the guide on rental application documents)
• An email address and phone number you check several times a day

Documents you need

• Tenant self-disclosure form (Mieterselbstauskunft)

  Only once you have said you want a specific flat

  optional

• Passport or national ID card

  Shown to verify your identity; a copy is not needed at a viewing

  required

• Residence permit or visa

  If you are not an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen

  optional

• Employment contract or job offer

  optional

• Recent payslips or other proof of income

  Usually requested once the landlord has chosen you

  optional

• Credit report for landlords

  If you already have a German credit history

  optional

• Signed rental contract

  required

• Move-in confirmation for registration (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung)

  required

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Set your budget and priorities

   Listings show the net cold rent (Kaltmiete or Nettokaltmiete) and, separately, monthly advance payments for operating and heating costs (Nebenkosten). What you transfer each month is the warm rent (Warmmiete). Electricity and internet usually come on top.

   For orientation (net cold rent per square metre per month):

   • The median asking rent on Berlin portals was €15.78 in 2025, about €19.22 in the inner city and €13.01 in the outer districts. Flats completed from 2024 onwards were advertised at a median of €19.97 (IBB Housing Market Report 2025).
   • Operating costs averaged about €1.93 per m² for "cold" costs (water, waste, caretaker, insurance and so on) and €1.50 per m² for heating and hot water, based on 2024 bills (Berlin operating cost overview 2026).

   As an illustration only: a 60 m² flat at the 2025 median asking rent would cost about €947 net cold plus roughly €206 in operating and heating costs, so around €1,150 warm per month. Decide early which districts you would accept, the minimum size you need, and whether you need an unfurnished long-term flat or could start with a room or a furnished flat.

2. 2

   Step 2: Prepare your application folder

   Landlords often choose among many applicants, and a complete, tidy folder helps. Typical contents are a short introduction, a tenant self-disclosure form, proof of identity and residence status, an employment contract and proof of income, and, if you have one, a credit report for landlords. Keep everything as one PDF that you can send within minutes, with data that the landlord does not need blacked out.

   If you have no German credit history or payslips yet, plan alternatives such as your employment contract, a guarantor or proof of savings. The guide on rental application documents explains what landlords may and may not ask for.

3. 3

   Step 3: Search several channels at once

   • State-owned housing companies. Berlin's seven state-owned companies (Berlinovo, degewo, GESOBAU, Gewobag, HOWOGE, STADT UND LAND and WBM) manage around 400,000 flats, nearly a quarter of Berlin's rental stock. They advertise vacancies on the joint portal inberlinwohnen.de with no agent's fee. You can filter by whether a housing entitlement certificate (Wohnberechtigungsschein, WBS) is required, and you apply through each company's own website. More than half of the flats that become vacant go to households with a WBS, so check whether you might qualify (see WBS and social housing in Berlin).
   • Housing cooperatives (Wohnungsbaugenossenschaften) hold around 190,000 flats in Berlin. Members buy cooperative shares and sign a permanent user agreement (Dauernutzungsvertrag) instead of an ordinary lease. Each cooperative sets its own rules for admitting new members, so check their websites directly.
   • Private portals and classifieds. Most private listings appear on large portals such as ImmoScout24, Immowelt and Kleinanzeigen. Rooms in shared flats are often advertised on WG-Gesucht. Save your searches and switch on instant alerts.
   • Your network and employer. Colleagues, friends and community groups often hear about flats before they are advertised. A growing number of Berlin employers help staff with housing, so ask HR whether yours does.
   • Rooms, sublets and furnished flats can bridge the time until you find a long-term flat; see the trade-offs below.
4. 4

   Step 4: Reply quickly and personally

   Regular listings in Berlin stayed online for only about 1.5 weeks on average in 2025 (IBB), so reply soon after a listing appears. A good first message is short, polite and specific:

   • who you are and who would move in (number of adults and children, pets if any)
   • your job or study situation and that your income covers the rent
   • your intended move-in date and when you can come to a viewing
   • that your documents are ready to send

   Write in German if you can; a few correct sentences are enough. If the listing is in English, reply in English. Do not attach your passport or payslips to a first message, and be wary of anyone who asks for them before a viewing (see rental scams).

5. 5

   Step 5: Go to viewings prepared

   A viewing (Besichtigung) may be a private appointment or an open viewing with many applicants at once. Arrive on time and bring your folder on paper or ready to email.

   • The landlord or agent must show you the building's energy performance certificate (Energieausweis) at the viewing at the latest. It gives you an idea of heating costs.
   • The landlord may check your identity by looking at your ID. According to Germany's data protection authorities, making a copy of your ID at the viewing is not necessary and therefore not permitted.

   Questions worth asking:

   • How is the warm rent made up, and how high were the last operating cost statements?
   • What type of heating is there, and is hot water included?
   • Is the contract unlimited, or is it fixed-term, stepped (Staffelmiete) or index-linked (Indexmiete)?
   • When is the flat available, and is there anything to take over from the previous tenant?
   • Will you be able to register your address here? (The landlord must confirm your move-in for the Anmeldung.)

   Look for damp or mould, check windows, heating, water pressure and mobile reception, and note any damage. Do not hand over money or sign anything at a viewing that you have not had time to read.

6. 6

   Step 6: Apply and share data carefully

   If you want the flat, say so promptly, usually by email. From this point the landlord may ask for a tenant self-disclosure (Mieterselbstauskunft), for example about your net income, your employer and the number of people moving in. Once they have chosen you, they may ask for proof of income such as a payslip, with data they do not need blacked out.

   Germany's data protection authorities have set out which questions are allowed. Landlords may not ask about your nationality, religion or ethnic origin, marital status, pregnancy or plans to have children, or membership of a party or tenants' association, and you do not have to answer questions that are not allowed. Details are in rental application documents.

7. 7

   Step 7: Check the offer and the contract before you sign

   • Is the rent legal? In Berlin the net cold rent for a new lease may generally be at most 10% above the local comparative rent (ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete), which you can look up with the official Berlin rent index online query. Exceptions apply, for example to flats first used and let after 1 October 2014, to the first letting after comprehensive modernisation and where the previous tenant already paid more. A landlord who relies on an exception must tell you in text form before you sign; otherwise they cannot rely on it later. You can sign and still challenge an excessive rent afterwards; see tenant rights in Berlin.
   • Contract type. An unlimited lease (unbefristet) is the norm. A fixed term (befristet) is only valid if the landlord states one of the legal reasons in writing at signing. Check for stepped or index-linked rent and for a clause waiving your right to give notice (Kündigungsverzicht); in standard contracts such a waiver may last at most four years.
   • Deposit. At most three months' net cold rent, payable in three monthly instalments.
   • Agent's fee. You only owe a fee if you commissioned the agent yourself in text form and the agent found the flat for you; otherwise the landlord pays.
   • Payments to the previous tenant. Paying money just so that someone moves out is void by law, and a price for furniture or fittings is invalid if it is strikingly out of proportion to their value.

   Berlin offers free help before you sign: the tenant advice services in every district, and the state's rent check office (Mietpreisprüfstelle). See "Free advice" below.

8. 8

   Step 8: Sign, pay safely and register your address

   • Sign a written contract and keep a complete copy, including all annexes such as house rules.
   • Pay the deposit and rent by bank transfer to the account named in the contract. If you ever pay in cash, get a signed receipt.
   • At handover, walk through the flat with the landlord and record its condition, meter readings and keys in a handover record (Übergabeprotokoll), with dated photos.
   • Ask for the move-in confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung). You must register at the new address within two weeks of moving in, and the landlord must provide the confirmation within that period. See Anmeldung in Berlin and landlord confirmation.
   • Then arrange electricity, internet and, if you want it, personal liability insurance.

What to expect in Berlin in 2026

Shared flats, sublets and furnished flats

Agents' fees and payments to previous tenants

If you face discrimination

Free advice

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Comparing listings by net cold rent only and being surprised by the warm rent.
• Sending passport copies and payslips to unverified contacts before any viewing.
• Assuming an agent's fee must be paid because it appears in the listing.
• Signing without checking whether the rent respects the rent cap, then missing the 30-month window to reclaim overpaid rent.
• Moving in without a move-in confirmation and then being unable to register.

Tips

• Create saved searches on several portals with instant alerts, and set aside fixed times each day to reply.
• Keep a simple spreadsheet of where you applied, viewing dates and contacts.
• If you are applying from abroad, ask a trusted person in Berlin to attend a viewing for you.
• Check the rent with the official rent index before you sign. If it seems too high, you can still sign and challenge it afterwards.
• Ask your employer whether they offer housing support, a relocation service or employer-linked flats.

Frequently asked questions

Editorial answers written by our team, based on the sources below.

Official links

In your plan

• Find a long-term flatAdd to plan
• Shortlist the Berlin neighbourhoods that suit youAdd to plan
• Estimate your Berlin budget, including move-in costsAdd to plan
• Prepare your rental application folderAdd to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 2 Feb 2027.