Berlin Rent Cap Check
Free Mietpreisbremse compliance calculator for Berlin landlords. Compute the maximum lawful starting rent under §§ 556d–556g BGB, test the four statutory exceptions, and generate a § 556g Abs. 1a Auskunft you can serve before contract signing.
This tool provides general orientation on the German rent cap (Mietpreisbremse) for residential apartments in Berlin. It is not legal advice and does not replace consultation with a licensed attorney (Rechtsanwalt). Results are calculated from your inputs using publicly available legal sources (BGB §§ 556d–556g, Berliner Mietspiegel 2024, Dritte Berliner Mietenbegrenzungsverordnung, leading BGH case law). The law applies as written — a favourable result here does not guarantee that a court will reach the same conclusion in your specific case.
FAQs
The Mietpreisbremse (§§ 556d–556g BGB) caps the starting rent on a new lease at 110% of the local comparative rent (Mietspiegel-Median) in designated tight housing markets. The Dritte Berliner Mietenbegrenzungsverordnung designates the entire city of Berlin as a tight market for the period 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2029. It applies to private residential lettings; Sozialwohnungen, Werkswohnungen, sublets, and commercial units are governed by separate regimes.
Four exceptions: (1) Neubau — apartments first used and first let after 1 October 2014 (§ 556f S. 1 BGB); (2) Comprehensive modernization — first letting after umfassende Modernisierung that meets the BGH VIII ZR 369/18 quantitative (≥⅓ of comparable new-build cost) and qualitative tests (§ 556f S. 2 BGB); (3) Vormiete — the previous tenant was lawfully paying above the cap (§ 556e Abs. 1 BGB); (4) Modernization within last 3 years — adds a § 559 surcharge subject to the § 559 Abs. 3a caps (€3/m² over 6 years general; €0.50/m² for qualifying heating swaps).
Before signing the lease you must inform the tenant in Textform (email is sufficient) which exception you are claiming and the supporting facts. If the notice is missing, you cannot rely on the exception at all. If a previous notice was defective, § 556g Abs. 1a S. 3 BGB delays your reliance on the exception until 24 months after a corrected Auskunft is delivered. This is where most landlord-side claims fail in practice.
Berlin courts (LG Berlin, 21.03.2003, 63 S 365/01) apply 2% per month of the current Zeitwert with 10-year linear depreciation; items 10+ years old contribute zero. Furnishing does not exempt the apartment from the cap — the surcharge is added on top of the capped unfurnished rent. Two pending reforms (Bundesrat-Drs. 657/25 with 1%/20-year, and BMJV Mietrecht II with a 5%-of-Nettokaltmiete guideline) are not yet in force.
Under § 556g Abs. 2 BGB, a tenant who objects within 30 months of lease commencement can recover overpayments back to the start. After 30 months they can only recover from the date of the objection forward. Berlin also runs a free Mietpreisprüfstelle for tenants since March 2025, so any rent set materially above the cap should be expected to be challenged.
No. It is an informational tool that performs deterministic calculations from your inputs based on publicly available legal sources (BGB §§ 556d–556g, Berliner Mietspiegel 2024, leading BGH case law). It is not a Rechtsdienstleistung under § 2 RDG. For any case with material exposure — particularly comprehensive-modernization or vorübergehender-Gebrauch claims, or rents materially above the Mietspiegel median — engage a Fachanwalt für Mietrecht before signing the lease.
“Four months later, I bought another in Frankfurt for €600k”
“Explained everything clearly and provided a tailored solution”
“An honest sparring partner for financial decisions”