What is the Mietpreisbremse?
The Mietpreisbremse is a law designed to curb the rapid rise in rent prices. On one hand, it aims to prevent new rental agreements from being signed at excessively high rents; on the other, it makes it possible to reduce rents that are too high.
What does the Mietpreisbremse do for you?
If you successfully invoke the Mietpreisbremse, you will have to pay significantly less rent in future and can reclaim the rent you overpaid.
Furthermore: if many people successfully lower their rent, this also keeps the rent index (Mietspiegel) low. This is important because the rent index is the benchmark for permissible rent levels.
Does the Mietpreisbremse apply throughout Berlin?
The Mietpreisbremse has applied throughout Berlin since 2015, because rents are rising very quickly everywhere and affordable housing is hard to find. All statutory criteria for determining a “tight housing market” are met across Berlin.
Does the Mietpreisbremse apply to all apartments?
Unfortunately, no.
The Mietpreisbremse does not apply to newly built apartments that are first occupied and rented out after 1 October 2014.
It also does not apply to apartments that are rented out for the first time after comprehensive modernization.
If you have signed a rental agreement with “index-linked rent” (Indexmiete), your rent level is tied to inflation. The Mietpreisbremse then only applies at the time of a new lease.
If a furnished apartment is rented out only for a short period, the Mietpreisbremse does not apply either.
How high may the permissible rent be?
The permissible rent is based on the local comparative rent. In Berlin, this is usually determined using the rent index (Mietspiegel). There are also other factors that can influence the permissible rent level. In particular, modernization measures carried out can increase the permissible rent.
What is the rent index (Mietspiegel)?
The rent index shows how high the rent may be in different areas of Berlin. To determine this, it is based on the average of existing rents in the respective areas. You can find the rent index for your address here: Berlin rent index.
Tenants must raise an objection to a violation of the Mietpreisbremse. To do this, you should inform your landlord in writing of the determined permissible rent level. You can find our template for an objection here.
Your landlord must provide you with the information needed to check the permissible rent level if you request it.
Can I simply pay less rent after filing an objection?
No, you should definitely not do that! It cannot be ruled out that you made a mistake when calculating the permissible rent or that a court reaches an unpredictable legal view. In that case, you could quickly fall into arrears. In the worst case, this can lead to termination by your landlord.