Tenant rights in Berlin: rent cap, rent increases, repairs and notice

Berlin has designated the whole city as a tight housing market. Its current ordinance, adopted in November 2025, applies until 31 December 2029, the latest date federal law allows. When you sign a new lease, the net cold rent may generally be at most 10% above the local comparative rent for that flat.

Exceptions (the landlord may charge more):

• flats first used and let after 1 October 2014
• the first letting after comprehensive modernisation
• the previous tenant's rent was already higher (the landlord may keep that level)
• modernisation in the three years before the letting

The landlord must tell you before you sign, in text form, if they rely on one of these exceptions. If they did not, they cannot rely on it, and the 10% limit applies.

Stepped and index rents. For a stepped rent, each step is checked against the cap separately. For an index rent, only the starting rent is capped. Furnished flats are covered too; the landlord may add a reasonable furniture surcharge. Flats let only for temporary use and furnished rooms in the landlord's own flat are excluded.

How to use it

1. Look up the local comparative rent for your flat with the Berlin rent index 2026, or have it checked for free (see below).
2. If your rent is too high, send the landlord a complaint (Rüge) in text form, for example by letter or email, ideally with your calculation.
3. For leases that started after 31 March 2020, you can reclaim all excess rent paid since the start if you complain within 30 months of the tenancy starting. If you complain later, you can only reclaim excess rent that falls due after the complaint.
4. You can also ask the landlord for the information needed to check the rent, such as the previous rent.

The state's rent check office (Mietpreisprüfstelle) checks rents for free for all Berlin tenant households. In its first months, from April to December 2025, it checked 339 cases and found a rent above the legal limit in 320 of them (about 94%), according to the IBB. Where a rent exceeds the comparative rent by more than 20%, the office also checks for excessive rent under section 5 of the Economic Offences Act (Wirtschaftsstrafgesetz) and passes its findings to the responsible district office.

The Berliner Mietspiegel 2026 was published on 28 May 2026 and reflects rents as of 1 September 2025. It is a qualified rent index, recognised by the Senate and by all six tenant and landlord associations in the working group, so courts presume its figures reflect the local comparative rent.

• It covers non-subsidised flats in apartment buildings completed by 31 December 2024. It does not apply to subsidised flats, single- and two-family houses, flats completed from 1 January 2025 or flats with a toilet outside the flat.
• It gives a range for each type of flat (by location, age and size). An orientation guide with positive and negative features, such as kitchen, bathroom, building and surroundings, helps place a flat within the range.
• Its figures are net cold rents per square metre, without operating costs, heating or furniture surcharges.

Use the free online query or the brochure. The Senate's rent hotline (Servicetelefon Miete) is 030 90173-3860.

Increase to the local comparative rent. The landlord may ask you to agree to an increase if:

• your rent has been unchanged for at least 15 months when the increase takes effect, and the request comes at least one year after the last increase
• the new rent does not exceed the local comparative rent
• the rent rises by at most 15% within three years (Berlin's citywide cap; elsewhere the federal default is 20%)

The request must be in text form with reasons. If a qualified rent index exists, the landlord must mention its figures even when relying on other evidence. You have until the end of the second full calendar month after receiving the request to agree. If you agree, the higher rent is due from the start of the third month. If you do not agree, the landlord can go to court within three further months. Check the request against the rent index before you agree; you can agree to part of it.

Stepped and index rents replace this procedure: increases follow the contract, and increases to the comparative rent are excluded.

After modernisation, the landlord may raise the annual rent by 8% of the modernisation costs, limited to €3 per square metre within six years, or €2 if the rent was below €7 per square metre.

Planned changes. A federal draft law published in 2026 ("Miete II") would, among other things, limit index rent increases in tight markets and regulate furnished and short-term lets. It was still a draft when this guide was checked.

The landlord must keep the flat in a condition suitable for living throughout the tenancy. If something is wrong, for example heating failure, mould, a broken window or a leaking roof:

1. Report the defect without delay, in writing, describe it precisely, attach photos and set a reasonable deadline for repair. If you do not report a defect, you can lose your rights and may even be liable for resulting damage.
2. Rent reduction (Mietminderung) applies automatically by law for as long as the defect reduces the use of the flat; you do not need the landlord's agreement. Minor impairments do not count, and for up to three months there is no reduction for disruption caused by energy-saving modernisation. According to the Berliner Mieterverein, the reduction is calculated on the warm rent.
3. Be careful with the amount. Reduction tables are only guidance. If you reduce too much, you risk falling into arrears, which can lead to termination. A safer route is often to pay in full but expressly "under reservation" (unter Vorbehalt) and reclaim later, after getting advice.

If the landlord does not act on serious problems, the district's housing supervision (Wohnungsaufsicht) can order repairs under Berlin's Housing Supervision Act.

The landlord must send the annual statement within 12 months of the end of the billing period; late demands for extra payment are generally excluded. You have 12 months from receipt to object, and you may inspect the invoices. Berlin's operating cost overview 2026 gives average figures to compare with: about €1.93 per m² per month for "cold" costs and €1.50 per m² for heating and hot water, based on 2024 bills.

• Notice period for tenants. In an ordinary unlimited lease you can give notice by the third working day of a month to the end of the month after next, so roughly three months. You do not need a reason.
• Form. Notice must be in written form: a letter with your handwritten signature. Email, text messages or messenger do not meet this requirement. If several people signed the lease, all of them must sign the notice. Deliver it so that you can prove receipt, for example by having a witness deliver it and confirm the date.
• Replacement tenant. Proposing a replacement tenant (Nachmieter) does not by itself release you early, unless your contract says so or special circumstances apply.
• Exceptions. A valid waiver of notice (Kündigungsverzicht, at most four years in standard terms) or a stepped rent with a notice exclusion can delay your earliest exit. A valid fixed-term lease ends on its end date. A furnished room in the landlord's own flat can be terminated by the 15th of a month to the end of that month.

For moving out, handover and getting your deposit back, see moving out and getting your deposit back.

In an ordinary lease the landlord may only give notice with a legitimate interest, such as a serious breach of contract by you or owner-occupation (Eigenbedarf): the landlord needs the flat for themselves, their family or members of their household. A rent increase is never a valid reason.

• Only landlords who are natural persons can claim owner-occupation, and the written notice must name the person who needs the flat and why. A bare "I need it for myself" is not enough.
• If a comparable flat in the same building or complex becomes free before the tenancy ends, the landlord must offer it to you.
• The landlord's notice periods are about three months, about six months after five years and about nine months after eight years of tenancy.
• You can object for hardship (Härte), for example because of age, illness, pregnancy, children's schooling or because no suitable replacement flat can be found on reasonable terms. The objection must be in writing and reach the landlord at least two months before the tenancy would end.
• After a conversion into condominiums, a buyer cannot give owner-occupation notice for ten years after the sale; Berlin applies this extended protection citywide. In addition, converting rental buildings with more than five flats into condominiums needs approval in Berlin from 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2030.

If the claimed need turns out to be false, you may be entitled to damages. If you receive a notice, get advice immediately; the deadlines are short.

The deposit may be at most three months' net cold rent, payable in three monthly instalments. The landlord must keep it separate from their own money and invest it at the usual savings rate; the interest belongs to you. After you move out, the landlord may take some time to check claims; courts generally accept up to about six months, and a reasonable amount may be kept back until the next operating cost statement.

You need the landlord's permission to sublet. If, after signing, you develop a legitimate interest in letting part of the flat to someone else, for example because your income has dropped or a household member has moved out, you can usually ask for permission, and the landlord may ask for a reasonable surcharge. Letting close family, such as a spouse or children, move in is not subletting, but you should inform the landlord and avoid overcrowding.

• District tenant advice (Mieterberatung). Free for all tenants in every district, covering contracts, rent increases, modernisation and notices; no court representation. Times and places by district.
• Mietpreisprüfstelle. Free rent checks for all Berlin tenant households, by phone, video call or in person by appointment. Details and booking.
• Tenant associations. The Berliner Mieterverein, Berliner MieterGemeinschaft and Mieterschutzbund Berlin give legal advice to members. At the Berliner Mieterverein, membership cost €132 per year in 2026, with a minimum term of 24 months, and includes legal costs insurance with a three-month waiting period for new disputes. It also offers a free first rent check for new leases to all Berlin tenants.
• Ombudsman for state-owned housing companies. Tenants of the state-owned companies can turn to the ombudsman office of the public body Sicheres Wohnen (SIWO).
• Discrimination. Fair mieten – Fair wohnen offers free, confidential advice in several languages.
• Legal advice on a low income. See legal help for your options.