Sonder-AfA §7b

The mechanic

Under §7b EStG, qualifying residential rental property is eligible for an additional Sonder-AfA on top of the regular linear AfA:

• Five percent per year for years one through four of the Sonder-AfA, applied to the depreciable basis
• Combined with the underlying AfA, the total in years one through four can reach about eight percent a year on the three percent linear schedule, or about ten percent where the building also takes the five percent degressive AfA

After year four, the Sonder-AfA ends; the regular AfA continues on the unfrozen remainder until the building basis is fully depreciated.

The qualifying conditions

The reason §7b is often more theoretical than practical: the qualifying conditions are designed to direct the benefit toward energy-efficient, moderately-priced rental housing, and they exclude a substantial portion of the new-build market.

Bauantrag timing. The construction application must fall within the eligible window, the most recent extension applies to Bauanträge filed between 1 January 2023 and 30 September 2029.

Cost cap on construction. The construction cost per square metre of usable area is capped, currently at €5,200/m² (this number has been adjusted on revision and may change again). New-build projects in expensive city locations frequently exceed this and are therefore disqualified.

Cap on depreciable basis. Even where construction cost falls within the limit, the depreciable basis for Sonder-AfA is capped, currently at €4,000/m². Costs above the cap are still part of the regular AfA basis but do not benefit from the Sonder-AfA.

Energy efficiency standard. The property must meet the Effizienzhaus 40 mit Nachhaltigkeitsklasse (EH40 NH) standard or equivalent, as confirmed by certification.

Use as residential rental. The property must be used for residential rental purposes for a defined period (typically the four years of Sonder-AfA eligibility); change of use during this period can trigger clawback.

The combination of these conditions means that §7b applies to a relatively narrow slice of the Neubau market, typically energy-efficient projects in B-tier locations rather than A-city premium developments.

What's worth noting about programme stability

The §7b programme has been adjusted twice since its 2019 reintroduction. The caps have moved, the energy-efficiency requirements have been added, and the sunset date has been extended and may be extended further.

What this means for investors:

A property bought today on the basis of §7b qualification needs the qualification to be confirmed under the rules in force at the Bauantrag date, with documentation that holds up under Finanzamt review. A property bought today on the assumption that §7b will be extended beyond 2029 is making a political assumption that may or may not hold.

For investors with a long horizon, the safer assumption is that the Sonder-AfA benefit is real for the first four years if qualification is properly documented, and that anything beyond that is regular AfA.

Where this typically fits

The patterns in cases where §7b adds real value:

• The investor is in a marginal tax bracket where accelerated deductions in early years are worth significantly more than spread-out deductions
• The property has been independently verified as §7b-qualifying, not just marketed as such
• The cashflow plan does not assume §7b continues past year four
• The investor has external liquidity sufficient to handle the property's economics under regular AfA alone, in case the qualification is later challenged

What this lesson is not

A recommendation. Sonder-AfA §7b is one tool among several. For some investors it is decisive. For others, particularly those at lower marginal tax brackets or with shorter horizons, the practical value can be smaller than the marketing suggests.

What comes next

A larger property archetype that changes the math at the building-rather-than-unit scale: Mehrfamilienhaus, the multi-unit residential building owned as a single property.