Readers who aren't from the US may not have heard of 'The Rent Is Too Damn High Party', a single issue political party founded in New York in 2005. But Iâm willing to bet that if a similar party were to pop-up in Germany now â perhaps to be called 'die Miete ist verdammt hoch' â it would be met with enthusiasm.
Every few months we hear a new, increasingly worrisome, update on how the average rent has hit a new record, or how more residents face an oversized rent burden.
In early 2025 figures revealed rents had risen by up to 30 percent in German cities in the past two years.Â
At the time, the Left Party launched an online ârent extortion checkâ. The party said that they identified at least 22,000 cases of illegally high rents, which was about two-thirds of the users who tried the app. (I tested the app at time of writing and it didnât work for me, but you can try it at this link if youâre interested.)
Whatâs infuriating is that there are regulations in place to control rents, but they are often blatantly ignored by landlords and housing companies. Thus the responsibility to enforce the existing rent controls largely falls on tenants.
How rent controls work in Germany
Among its bigger rent controls is Germany's nationwide rental price brake (Mietpreisbremse), which was enacted in 2015, and has since been extended to the end of 2025 in most parts of Germany. The government had announced plans to extend the regulation until 2029 last year, but ultimately failed to do so.
Put simply, the rent brake says that rents should not be set more than 10 percent above the average rent for comparable units in the same neighbourhood (as determined by the rent price index). This only applies in competitive housing markets, such as in much of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and some other cities.
But there are several important exceptions to be aware of. The rent brake does not apply to:
- Temporary housing (rental contracts less than one year)
- Leases signed before June 1st, 2015
- Rental flats that have been significantly renovated
- New flats (rented for the first time after October 1st 2014)
Additionally a rent price is considered fair if the previous tenant had not invoked the rent brake to challenge it.
READ ALSO: Why are Berlin rents soaring by 20 percent when there's a rent brake?
Why enforcing the rent brake is a must
That last exception in particular is dubious, because it means that an illegally high rent effectively becomes legal if it has gone unchallenged by one tenant.Â
From a legal / monetary point-of-view, landlords and housing companies are therefore incentivised to try and overcharge their tenants. Especially considering that the only penalty to landlords for violating the rent brake is paying back the amount that was overcharged.Â
For this reason I suggest that invoking the rent brake is not just something tenants should do, but itâs arguably a civic duty â something we all need to do, collectively, to keep rents affordable.
Because every time a tenant fails to challenge a high rent with the law, they are also passing that high rent on to the next renter.
How to apply the rent brake and lower your rent
The good news, for those paying rents that are too high, is that the law and tenantâs protections are on your side should you try to lower your rent. And I can tell you, from my own experience, that it works.
The first step is to confirm that your rent is too high. You can do this by checking your local rent price index. (Here is one for Berlin. In other cities try searching âMietspiegelâ + city name.)
I moved into a studio apartment last year at a price that I thought was very cheap for the neighbourhood. After I checked the rent index I realised the cold rent I was paying was nearly double the index price.
So I contacted my landlord and said that based on my research, the price I was paying was not permissible by the rent brake.
My landlord initially expressed frustration, saying the contract had been signed, and also suggesting that he had spent a lot renovating the unit.
I insisted that I was only interested in seeing that the law was upheld, and that if he wouldnât lower the rent then I would seek legal clarification. In the end, we agreed on a reduced rent and signed an addendum for the contract.
READ ALSO: How foreign residents in Germany are winning rent reductions
Why renters hesitate to challenge illegal rents
Iâve shared my story with numerous people who said their rent is too high, but again and again I've heard people are hesitant to challenge their landlords.
Tenants worry that itâll cause tension or even cause their landlords to seek an eviction.
Some tension is perhaps unavoidable, but renters in Germany should know that they are pretty well protected. A landlord could not simply evict you, or take other action against you, for challenging the rent price. In fact, doing so could land them in even more serious legal trouble.
READ ALSO: What can get you evicted as a tenant in Germany?
If the idea of handling the issue yourself is a headache, you can also try Conny or similar legal service providers, that essentially handle the process for you.Â
Conny, in particular, doesn't charge you for trying (only if they win your case), but this reviewer found their services to be too expensive.
You can also seek help from a tenantsâ association (Mieterverein) or a tenancy lawyer.
Donât wait - do it while you can
If you do believe your rent is too high, youâd be advised to take action immediately.
As previously mentioned, the rent brake is set to expire nationwide at the end of this year, and although the previous government had promised to extend it until 2029, itâs not at all certain that the next government will.
Furthermore in at least seven federal states, the regulation will actually expire before December 31st this year.Â
However, should you succeed in lowering your rent before the law expires or is changed, your new lower rent will be locked in as long as your contract remains.
READ ALSO: What changes for renters and homeowners in Germany in 2025
Other rent controls to be aware of
It's worth noting that the rent brake comes in addition to the rent price cap (Mietpreisdeckel), which regulates how fast rents can be raised in existing tenancies, and capping limits (Kappungsgrenze) for rents that limit how much landlords can increase rent prices from year to year. Both of these are enforced regionally, with limits varying a bit from state to state - in Berlin, for example, the cap prevents a rent price increase of more than 15 percent within three years.
If your rent has been increased significantly, or if your aware the rent for a property you're interested in has been raised significantly, it's worth checking if the price increase was aligned with those limits. If not, you could challenge the price increase based on the rent price cap.
This article has been edited to add context about the difference between the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) and the rent price cap (Mietpreisdeckel).
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