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PROPERTY

What to know about renting out your home as an Airbnb in Germany

Many home owners - and even some renters - have considered bringing in some extra cash by listing their property on Airbnb. But the rules in Germany are complex and can vary depending on where you live. Here's what you need to know.

A sign for a holiday flat in Sellin, Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania.
A sign for a holiday flat in Sellin, Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Stefan Sauer

It can sound like an ideal side gig: renting out a spare room in your flat as a holiday home on Airbnb. You can meet new people and even subsidise your rent or the cost of your mortgage – theoretically without doing too much work for the money.

But if you’re considering getting into Airbnb in Germany, it’s important to get abreast of the rules before you do so. Even though there isn’t a blanket ban, many states and cities have put strict guidelines in place to keep it under control.

Why? Because, as many well know, Germany is in the grip of a serious housing crisis right now. Living space is desperately sought-after for people who live here, and short-term holiday lets are believed to be part of the problem.

This was borne out by a 2021 study by the German Institute for Economic Research that looked at the impact of Airbnb properties on rental prices in Berlin. 

The institute found that rents increased by an average of 13 percent if they were in the immediate vicinity of an Airbnb property – largely because the housing stock in these areas had decreased.

In Mitte, prices went up by around 8 cents per metre, but in the more residential district of Lichtenberg, they shot up by 43 cents per square metre. In Neukölln – a trendy area that has been heavily gentrified in recent years – rents were being pushed up by 10 cents per square metre by the presence of Airbnb.

READ ALSO: Airbnb drives up rents in Berlin, new study finds

Of course, none of this means that it’s impossible to start renting out your home for a bit of extra cash – but depending on where you live, it may be a lot more difficult. Here’s what to know about the general rules in Germany and the specific guidelines in the major cities and states.

Germany-wide rules 

Back in September 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made a key decision that ultimately empowered governments to ban Airbnb in places where housing was severely limited. 

However, this is a tiny bit more complex than it first appears, since the primary issue isn’t Airbnb itself but rather short-term rentals that turn residential homes into holiday lets. 

If properties change use in this way, this is likely to be branded “misappropriation of living space” – i.e. unlawfully using properties in a way that differs from their original purpose. 

A coastal holiday home in Schleswig-Holstein.

A coastal holiday home in Schleswig-Holstein. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/lichtecht | lichtecht

In some cases, getting a permit or renting a property for more long-term stays may be a way around this, but if you do fall afoul of the rules in places like Berlin or Munich, you can expect fines of anywhere between €50,000 and €500,000. 

Another key thing to note is that landlords in general are subject to some strict regulations, including – but certainly not limited to – health and safety requirements and declaring taxable income. 

Airbnb has put together a guide in English that can help you familiarise yourself with some of these rules, and they also offer webinars in English and German that will take you through the taxation system.

In most cases, subletting all or part of your rental flat on Airbnb is unlikely to be allowed. If in doubt, always check with your landlord or letting agent to see what’s permitted and what isn’t. 

Rules in cities and federal states 

Bavaria

Bavaria is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Germany – and its capital, Munich, also happens to have the most expensive rental market in the country – so it’s no surprise that there are tough rules here when it comes to Airbnb.

In general, the state prohibits the misuse of living space, and people who break these rules can face eyewatering fines of up to €500,000.

Munich has similar rules in place, though it is possible to apply for a permit to change your home into a holiday rental. These can take around 12 months to obtain and the decision is based on whether re-purposing the property is in the public interest.

A view over Tegernsee Bavaria

A view over Tegernsee, a popular summer vacation spot in Bavaria. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe

There are a few exceptions, though. If you live in a large house, for example, renting out a room on Airbnb is theoretically doable, since the rules state that no more than 50 percent of the home can be used for non-residential purposes. You’re also entitled to rent out your entire property for up to eight weeks of the year without getting permission from local authorities. 

Baden-Württemberg 

Since February 2021, the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg has been clamping down on misappropriation of living space. If you’re found to be renting out a property illegally, you could be hit with a fine of up to €100,000.

In Stuttgart, strict regulations have been in place since July 2021. The rules stipulate that anyone who wants to rent out their home on a short-term basis has to apply for a registration number and include it on their listing. If less than 50 percent of the living space is being listed, it can be rented out as often as you like, but if more than 50 percent of the home is being repurposed then you can only rent this space for up to 10 weeks per year.

If you want to rent out an entire home on Airbnb for longer periods of time, you’ll have to apply for a permit from the city authorities. 

READ MORE: Cities across Europe unite to demand tougher rules for Airbnb rentals

Berlin

In recent years, Berlin’s housing market has become notorious for its dire shortage of living space and endlessly rising rents – and there have been several attempts to get illegal Airbnb listings under control.

Most recently, the city state introduced a registration system for anyone wanting to rent out part of their home as a short-term holiday let. If less than half of the property is set to be rented out, you’ll need to notify the relevant district authority of your plans and get a registration number that you include anywhere you advertise the property (in the case, an Airbnb listing). 

Blocks of flats in Berlin

Blocks of flats in the German capital of Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Florian Schuh

If you want to rent out more than half of your home, a permit will be required. Fines of up to €250,000 are levied on people found to be breaking the law. 

The rules do vary slightly depending on whether the property you rent out is your primary or secondary residence. If you live in the flat, you’re entitled to rent it out during periods of absence (i.e. when you yourself are travelling) as long as you aren’t changing the main function of the home.

For properties you own but don’t live in, renting them out as holiday homes is permissible – but only for a maximum of 90 days per year. 

Frankfurt am Main 

Frankfurt am Main has been battling its own housing shortages for many years, and its fight against Airbnb culminated in a 2018 bill regulating holiday homes.

This bill stipulates that people must apply for permission if they want to offer their home as a short-term holiday rental, and that this can only be done for a maximum of eight weeks per year.

Breaching these rules can result in fines worth tens of thousands of euros. 

READ ALSO: Can a flat swap help me find a new apartment in Germany?

Hamburg

Much like other major cities in Germany, the city state of Hamburg has implemented a registration system to help it monitor the number of holiday homes being listed on sites like Airbnb.

The good news is that applying for a registration number is pretty easy to do online – and it doesn’t cost any money to do so.

That said, there are still strict rules in Hamburg against the misappropriation of living space, so there are quite a few restrictions about what you can do. Generally, renting out a spare room would be acceptable, or renting out a larger portion of the home for eight weeks or less per year.   

Lower Saxony

When it comes to Airbnb in Lower Saxony, a lot depends on the area you live in and how desperate the housing situation is.

In popular areas and holiday destinations like Lüneburg, Göttingen, and the island of Norderney, there’s a ban on the misuse of residential space and you’ll likely need to seek the advice or a permit from your local authority in order to rent out a holiday home.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to sublet your apartment in Germany

Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania

While Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania isn’t Germany’s most populous state, living space in the popular coastal resorts is increasingly scarce, which drove state authorities to pass a misappropriation law back in 2021.

A cafe in Schwerin, Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania

A cafe in Schwerin, Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, which is popular with tourists. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Jens Büttner

That means that short-term holiday lets are highly restricted and you will need to seek permission to change the use of a property. 

North Rhine-Westphalia

To rent out property to tourists in NRW, you now need to get a special ID number that you will have to use in any listings for your apartment online.

In cities like Cologne and Düsseldorf, there are strict bans on renting out properties on a short-term basis as a means of making higher profit. Both cities have recently invested in more staff to check compliance with the rules, and fines of up to €50,000 are levied on people who break the rules (though Cologne is considering hiking this to €500,000).

One way to rent out a flat while staying above board is therefore to offer it on a much more long-term basis, but be sure to liaise with authorities or get legal advice before you do so. 

READ ALSO: Six confusing things about renting a flat in Germany

Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia 

These above four states have all introduced bans on the misappropriation of living space, meaning ultra short-term holiday lets are affectively banned, though longer-term rentals are potentially allowed. 

Member comments

  1. It is unbelievable to me that the government thinks they can tell you what to do with your property. Definitely not investing any money here in Germany. Saving it for when I get back to the States.

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For members

HOUSING

Is there any hope for Berlin’s strained rental market?

Rents in Germany’s capital city have more than doubled in the last decade, according to a recent report from Investment Bank Berlin. What keeps pushing up prices, and is the trend set to continue?

Is there any hope for Berlin’s strained rental market?

According to Investment Bank Berlin’s 2023 housing market report, published earlier this month, found rent prices, excluding utilities, rose from €5.75 per square metre in 2014 to €13.99 per square metre in 2023. 

The average asking rent prices leapt to €19.85 per square metre for newly built flats. 

READ ALSO: ‘Tense housing situation’: Why a Berlin renter can’t be evicted for two years

Tale of ‘two housing markets’

Dr. Hinrich Holm, chairman of the Board of Investment Bank Berlin (IBB), said in the report the current state of Berlin’s housing market reveals a challenging situation for renters. 

“Berlin basically has two housing markets,” he said.  “One with moderate prices for existing rental agreements and one with high rents on offer. We must therefore expand the range and at the same time offer apartments subject to rent and occupancy in order to provide low-income population groups with social housing.”

The sharp rise in Berlin’s population after war-related refugee migration and the end of the pandemic isolation rules is partially to blame, he added. Nearly 80,000 people moved to Berlin after the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine in February 2022. 

Construction unlikely to solve Berlin apartment shortage

Construction for new builds is back in swing and has reached the levels seen in the mid-1990s after the wall fell. 

For the first time building completions exceeded the number of building permits issued. That amounted to the completion of 17,310 apartments which is 1,400 more than in 2021.  

Christian Gaebler, Senator for Urban Development, Building and Housing, said new construction could not immediately solve Berlin’s apartment shortage. 

Luxury flats in Berlin

Central Berlin apartments. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christophe Gateau

“Housing construction is not meeting demand at the moment,” he said. “The causes are complex: rising land and construction costs, delivery bottlenecks, a shortage of skilled workers and also the development of interest rates.”

With a construction backlog of more than 62,000 apartments and a realisation rate of 86.5 percent, it is predicted that the majority of apartments will become available over the next few years. But that will not help those in the market for an apartment today. 

READ ALSO: Why does Germany keep missing its house building targets?

Berlin housing crunch increases competition

Molly Harison, an American English teacher in Berlin, found her current apartment through the website wg-gesucht. She said it was tough to find reasonably priced apartments within The Ring — what Berliners dub the part of the city encircled by the S-Bahn — and avoid potentially predatory renting situations during her search. 

“With all of the expats and foreigners that are moving here, rent is really high, unless you find a questionable living situation or an honest person,” Harison told The Local. “The amount of people I know who are renting out rooms in their apartment, and the person in the apartment is paying the majority of the rent is wild.”

Harison said competition was fierce to find her current living situation.  

“There’s just not a lot of long-term rental contracts because as soon as they’re up someone snatches them and they’re gone,” Harison said. 

“There were days where I’d try to go on and find things it would be like as soon as I had messaged three people, those same ads from those three people would be gone because someone else had already put the deposit down.”

Lucy, an Italian digital marketer who moved to Berlin in March to start a new job, agreed. 

“I definitely needed to be consistent with my search, I checked the posts twice a day and sent a lot of messages,” she told The Local. “It helped me to be one of the first people to send a message to the landlord, like as soon as they posted the offer.” 

Lucy said this method paired with some knowledge of German helped her find a place within her budget in just under three weeks. 

Still, it can also be a struggle to find long term housing that offers Anmeldung, or official registration at a German residence, which is a requirement for long term visas and work permits.  

“It was quite hard to find a place that was legit for the Anmeldung, I’ve noticed that most of the time it’s not possible,” Lucy said. 

Anmeldung is required to open some bank accounts, get a tax identification number for work, and sign up for wifi in Germany. Legally residents are required to register their address within two weeks of moving.  

And housing issues in Berlin have spread outside of the city’s metro area. Nearby cities like Potsdam also recorded marked rises in asking rent prices as some commuters choose to move outside of Berlin’s city limits for housing.  

But while rents in Berlin have soared to record highs, housing prices for those looking to buy are not as bleak. The prices of condominiums and one and two family homes bucked the trend and declined slightly from previous years. 

Condominium prices stagnated for the first time since the survey began analysing Berlin housing data. 

In 2023, condominiums were advertised for an average of €5,746 per square metre. The median for new condominium buildings fell by 4.4 percent to just over €8,000 per square metre. 

The median home price also fell 9.5 percent to €639,000. 

READ ALSO: Why property prices are falling in almost all German cities

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