As of: March 6, 2024, 9:18 a.m
By: Lukas Schierlinger
Comments
Press
Split
Those affected must take the initiative themselves to put a brake on rent prices.
A team of scientists sheds light on the situation in Munich.
Munich – What do people in Munich know about the rent control and what is stopping them from using it?
Felicitas Sommer explains: “We want to understand how tenancy rights and options for rent reduction are perceived by tenants in Munich.
How effective, useful and applicable do you find them?” Sommer from the TU Munich leads an interdisciplinary and cross-university project that is primarily carried out at the LMU.
Your team sent out 10,000 flyers leading to an online survey to a random sample.
For which contracts the rent cap applies in Munich:
The so-called rent brake applies to rental agreements concluded in Munich from August 7, 2019.
According to Section 556 d Paragraph 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB), in areas with a tight housing market, the rent at the start of the tenancy may not exceed the local comparative rent by a maximum of ten percent.
There are some exceptions to the rent control.
It does not apply if living space is rented that was first used and rented after October 1, 2014.
The rent cap also does not apply to the first rental after comprehensive modernization.
Here, case law requires a modernization effort that amounts to around a third of the new construction effort.
Source: State capital Munich
Rent cap in Munich: Those affected must take action themselves
The rent cap is a private law regulation.
This means that those affected can only reclaim excessive rental amounts if they have taken action themselves.
And if necessary, file a lawsuit against your landlord in civil court.
As one couple successfully did in 2022.
Felicitas Sommer formulates one question in the survey: “Is a single mother perhaps less willing to take the step because she is afraid of going to court?”
For Munich residents, an online calculator from the city of Munich already provides some clues regarding the current rent index.
Is the rent for your apartment too high?
Location and year of construction are important, but completely different factors are also asked: Does the apartment have underfloor heating?
Did the landlord provide basic kitchen equipment?
Online survey on the rent cap in Munich: “We want the most complete picture possible”
Sommer and her team translated their online survey into multiple languages.
“She also asks about experiences of discrimination in order to understand to what extent language barriers or disadvantages in the housing market have an impact on whether people use their rights,” explains the scientist.
It is important to her to emphasize that not only Munich residents who are affected by excessive rents should take part in the survey.
“We want as complete a picture as possible.”
In the survey, the scientists also recorded what percentage of their salary the respondents had to spend on rent costs.
“One factor could be that there are many better-off people living in Munich who are not dependent on rent controls,” says Sommer
.
This ultimately has consequences for everyone.
“Excessive rents end up in the rent index.”
Does the entire rent control concept need to be adjusted?
Sommer's team is holding back on demands; concrete results of their survey should be available in April.
“We conduct scientific research, but of course we are happy when our results are used to pursue evidence-based policy.”