Would you pay €100 a month for a mailbox and the chance to register your address at a place where you don't actually live?
You might if you needed that registered address to secure a residence permit, open a bank account, or sign a work contract.
The last few years have seen a clear relative drop-off in the number of available Berlin apartments that offer Anmeldung, as more and more people move to the capital. At the same time, there are also tenants with existing contracts and registration - some of whom have largely left Berlin - offering to sublet their places to desperate home-hunters.
Some of these people who have left Berlin still retain their old rental contracts in the capital and are loathe to give them up, keeping them either to return eventually or charge a new Berlin resident a sublet rate that's higher than the rent in their old contract, making a profit. The new residents subletting also typically aren't able to register, as a 2015 law requires a landlord signature in order to do so - and the old tenants are subletting their place to new Berlin residents without the landlord's permission.
Some classified ads have already begun tapping into a new market - Berlin subletters who already have a place to actually stay but still need a place to register. The ads typically offer rates of around €100 a month for a landlord signature and a name on the mailbox - with nothing else.
Often, such a contract is set up for a minimum of 12 months, requiring €1,200 upfront - an extra cost on new Berliners. As housing in the capital becomes scarcer, unofficial subletting has become a regular way of living for many new arrivals to the city.
Berlin Tenants' Association Managing Director Ulrike Hamann told Berlin broadcaster RBB that the trend is "very worrying" and points to the excesses of Berlin's current rental market.
Recently it was reported that major Berlin landlord Vonvovia was set to hike rents by as much as 15 percent, highlighting the tense housing situation in the city.Â
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What is Germany doing to solve its housing crisis?
Bonuses for de-registration?
Berlin's 2022 Census found that the city's population was actually about 128,000 fewer than originally thought, due in no small part to people who remained registered in Berlin despite no longer living in the capital. Some of these fake residents may be people looking to hold onto old rental contracts.
The problem has also led to conversations in Berlin's city government about whether the city should offer financial incentives for people who de-register from Berlin, with local SPD politician Sven Heinemann suggesting a €100 bonus to do so. However, there has been no green light for this proposal so far.
READ ALSO: Is renting a flat 'without Anmeldung' illegal in Germany?
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