Subletting and Sublease

Subtenancy Myths: for main tenants (Hauptmieter:innen)

It’s illegal to sublet your apartment? False!

If you want to sublet a room in your apartment, you are in many cases legally entitled to do so.

Should you wish to sublet your apartment, you will need to have a valid reason for doing so that must have arisen after you entered into the rental contract. Perhaps a flatmate has moved out, you are now earning less money, your partner wants to move in, or you have to move to another city for a few months for work or study. All of these are perfectly valid reasons, and there are many, many more.

Your landlord must be informed of the reason, as well as the personal details of the proposed subtenant, in advance. If possible, you should make the request to your landlord in writing and clearly state your reasons for doing so. In most cases, this approach works without a hitch: provided you meet the relevant requirements, you are legally entitled to receive authorisation from your landlord. Do not sublet a room until you have received written confirmation of your landlord’s approval. Subletting without prior authorisation can be grounds for terminating your rental contract. If you have any problems with the request to sublease, seek advice → tenant counseling.

In any case, you should draw up a sublease agreement (Untermietvertrag) in which all of the relevant stipulations, such as the cost of the deposit payment (Kaution), are recorded in writing. Do not charge more rent from your subtenant(s) than you pay yourself. and and don’t break the rent cap (Mietpreisbremse). Many rules of tenancy law also apply to subtenancy agreements.

You should agree on a rent with your subtenants that corresponds to the ratio of the sublet area to the unrented area. Common areas are taken into account on a per capita basis. Courts grant landlords the right to refuse permission if the subletting generates a ‘profit’.

We recommend you join a tenants’ union that offers its members insurance for legal expenses (Rechtschutzversicherung). They can advise you on the ins and outs of subletting and provide you with legal support. This is particularly important if you wish to sublet your entire apartment.

In order for subtenants to be able to officially register their place of residence, you must provide them with written confirmation of their subtenancy (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung) from the landlord!

Did you know? Without registration (Anmeldung), subtenants cannot obtain a tax ID, start a job, join a health insurance fund or open a bank account.

Get permission from your landlord to sublet and help put an end to precarious housing condi-tions! Secure, long-term rental agreements are good for the whole neighbourhood and their overall sense of cohesion and solidarity.

Subtenancy Myths: for subtenants (Untermieter:innen)

It’s illegal to sublet another person’s apartment? False!

In order to be able to sublet safely and legally, main tenants require official authorisation from their landlord. Main tenants are entitled to receive this authorisation, provided there is a valid reason for subletting. If their subletting request is approved, the main tenant can provide you, the subtenant, with written confirmation from the landlord (Wohnungsgeberbescheinigung), which you can then use to register your place of residence at the Bürgeramt.

A sublease agreement is not much different from a “normal” rental contract. For example, the rent cap (Mietpreisbremse) also applies to sublease agreements, which means that the main tenant is not allowed to charge you, the subtenant, a massively inflated rental price.

You are also afforded certain protections when it comes to contract termination. If you sublease an entire apartment, your sublease contract may only be terminated for specific reasons, such as the main tenant’s desire to move back into the apartment themselves, or in the case that you have amassed significant rent arrears. If you are subletting a room in the main tenant’s apartment, the termination notice period is six months.

NB: Less robust regulations apply in the case of furnished rooms that are rented out in apartments shared by the main tenant!

A room should only be sublet with the landlord’s permission. Secret, unauthorised subletting can result in the rental contract being terminated.

In any case, you should draw up a sublease agreement (Untermietvertrag) in which all of the relevant stipulations, such as the cost of the deposit payment, are recorded in writing. Even in cases where a sublease arrangement has not been authorised by the landlord, the stipulations outlined in the sublease contract are still valid and legally binding.

If you are already subletting without prior authorisation from the landlord, and they are not already aware that you are living in the apartment as a subtenant, do not speak to the landlord without first seeking legal advice. The risk is too great. But there are solutions to be found in this case, too.

In principle, legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung) only applies to your sublease arrangement with the main tenant. In order to be able to obtain advice and legal support in the event of a dispute with the landlord, we recommend that both you and the main tenant join a tenants’ union that offers its members legal expenses insurance.

legal backround

Section 553 of the German Civil Code (BGB) regulates the right of residential tenants to obtain permission from their landlord to sublease their apartment. In accordance with this legislation, all main tenants (Hauptmieter:innen) in Germany have the legal right to sublet their apartment, provided the following conditions are met.

If you want to sublet part of your apartment, you are obligated to ask the landlord for permission in advance. This also applies if you plan to move in with your partner.

You are obligated provide the personal details of the person to whom you wish to sublet and the reasons for doing so. You should stipulate a deadline by which you expect the landlord to grant authorisation. It is also a good idea to specify which room(s) you wish to sublet.

An example of a letter to your landlord could look like this:

Guten Tag, ___________________

ich bitte um die Erteilung der Genehmigung der Untervermietung des größeren/kleineren Zimmers meiner Wohnung ab dem 1. Mai 2026 an Maxi Musterfrau, geboren am __.__.____, bisher wohnhaft ____-straße __, _____ Ort.

Ich werde die nächsten 3 Jahre im Ausland studieren. Da ich dort auch eine Unterkunft bezahlen muss, möchte ich die Mehrausgaben durch die Einnahmen aus der Untervermietung kompensieren.

oder

Ich beginne ein Studium und werde daher in den nächsten Jahren weniger Geld verdienen. Daher möchte ich das genannte Zimmer untervermieten.

oder

Meine Lebenspartnerin und ich möchten in Zukunft gemeinsam in der Wohnung leben.

Ich bitte Sie, die Genehmigung bis zum xx.xx.xxxx (14 Tage) zu erteilen.

MfG, _____________

[Hello, ___________________

I request permission to sublease the larger/smaller room of my apartment from 1 May 2026 to John Doe, born on dd/mm/yyyy, currently residing at 
x ____Street, ____.

I will be studying overseas for the next 3 years. As I also have to pay for accommodation there, I would like to offset the additional expenses with the income from subletting.

or

I will shortly be starting university and as such will be earning less money in the next few years. I would therefore like to sublet the aforementioned room.

or

My partner and I would like to live together in the apartment.

I kindly request that you provide authorisation by dd/mm/yyyy (14 days from date of writing).

Kind regards, _____________]

Please also be aware that you are not required to seek sublease authorisation for your children (even adult children) or your parents if they move into the apartment with you. The laws are less clear-cut when it comes to siblings, stepchildren, nieces and nephews, so it is better to ask first in these cases.

Provided you fulfil the aforementioned requirements, the landlord is obligated to approve your sublease request. If they do not, you can sue them in order to obtain the necessary authorisation. If your landlord wrongfully denies you permission to sublease, they are not entitled to terminate your rental contract if the subtenant moves in.

You should negotiate a rent price with the subtenant that is proportionate to the ratio of the subleased area of the apartment to any unrented space. Shared areas are also factored into this calculation according to the number of occupants in the apartment.

Germany is seeing an increasing number of legal precedents that grant landlords the right to deny tenants permission to sublet if the sublease arrangement would generate a monetary profit for the tenant.

The rent cap (Mietpreisbremse) also applies to sublease agreements.

If, as a subtenant, you pay more than 10% above the customary comparative local rent price (ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete), there are grounds for your rent to be reduced.

On top of this are utilities (Betriebskosten) and heating costs (Heizkosten). If you pay an all-inclusive rent amount, you will need to ask the main tenant(s) for details about these costs. As mentioned earlier, the floor space of the (sub)leased rooms and your individual proportion of the shared areas of the apartment must be taken into account when calculating the permissible rent price.

Example: The apartment consists of two rooms at 20 m² each and one room at 15 m², which are used by a total of three occupants. The hallway, bathroom and kitchen are shared spaces and comprise a combined total area of 30 m². You will be renting the room that is 15 m². Using the rent index calculator (Mietspiegelrechner), you have calculated a customary comparative local rent price (ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete) of €9 per m² (net) for the apartment. The utilities and heating costs total €3 per m².

→ The permissible rent price for the 15 m² room is calculated as follows:

Further costs may be added to this price on a proportional basis, including electricity and internet costs, and, if applicable, a fee for any furnishings provided by the main tenant. The fee for furnishings must be calculated according to the current value of the furniture or technical equipment provided and, in accordance with the current prevailing legal opinion, may not exceed 2% of the current value of the items in question.

Please share this information and join the Mieter*innengewerkschaft Berlin (MGB) either on your own or with your neighbours! The MGB provides a platform for tenants to network in order to better assert their rights and stand together against injustices and abuses by landlords.

Anmeldung für alle! Registration for all!