The rent index (Mietspiegel) in Germany - and how to use it.

The rent index provides information on the local comparative rent in German cities and municipalities. It sets out the criteria by which an apartment is valued and the usual rent for a comparable apartment is determined.

On the basis of the rent index, it is possible to determine whether the rent charged by your landlord exceeds the upper limit permitted under the rent cap (Mietpreisbremse).

Find the rent index for your city

Pick your city to open its official Mietspiegel:

The rent index - a lever for tenants

Since 1974, Section 558 (2) of the German Civil Code (BGB) has required rent adjustments to be based on the local comparative rent. The law states:

The problem with this rule has long been the lack of data on comparable apartments. For landlords to comply and for courts to decide in cases of doubt, this data had to be collected case by case - which is expensive and was therefore rarely done.

So in practice, tenants had no way of checking whether a rent met the criteria without incurring high costs. To give tenants real leverage against excessive rents, rent indices have been set up in numerous German cities and municipalities to help identify unlawfully high rents and bring them down to the local comparative rent.

Simple and qualified rent index

To determine the local comparative rent, the apartment in question is described using a set of criteria. Comparable apartments are then found based on those characteristics:

Once the apartment is classified by these criteria, the simple rent index gives you a price range. A qualified rent index is usually drawn up every four years and updated every two years on the cost-of-living index. By law (§ 558c BGB) a new index must be created at least every four years.

For a qualified rent index, additional conditions apply: it must be compiled according to recognised scientific principles (usually by specialist firms), and it must be recognised and published by representatives of tenants, landlords and the local authority.

Rent control - but tenants have to activate it

To counteract this rapid development, the legislator introduced rent control (Mietpreisbremse). The catch: tenants must actively invoke it. Too few do - so rents keep rising unchecked despite rent control.

If most affected tenants continue not to use rent control, large jumps in future rent levels are foreseeable. This can only be counteracted if rent control is activated across the board and unjustifiably high rents are reduced.

Landlords face no sanctions (e.g. fines) if they break rent control. That means tenants will have to keep taking the initiative themselves. Conny helps tenants across Germany assert the rent control - without stress and without cost risk*.

Rent index by city - overview

When rent control (Mietpreisbremse, MPB) was introduced in each major city, and the source for the local Mietspiegel:

*Date rent control (Mietpreisbremse) entered into force in the respective state/city.

The rent index at Conny

Tenants can use the rent index to take action against an unlawfully high rent. To let you check your rent easily and online against the local comparative rent, we've turned the rent indices for Berlin, Hamburg, München, Köln, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and other areas into a clear online rent calculator.

In a few clicks you can find out - free of charge - whether the rent cap is being violated, how much you may be overpaying each month, and ask Conny to enforce the reduction.

If a landlord were to threaten termination or similar, there is a very good chance you can defend against it with our partner lawyers.

Rent increases to the local market rate

So tenants aren't constantly hit with unlimited rent increases, landlords are only permitted to raise rents in existing tenancies if they comply with the legal rules. Beyond contractually agreed options like graduated rent (Staffelmiete) and index-linked rent (Indexmiete), the landlord may only justify an increase by bringing the rent up to the local comparative rent (§ 558 BGB), or via a modernisation-based increase.

Conny helps tenants - simple, online, without cost risk*

For rent control to apply, affected tenants must first activate it. Conny supports tenants from activation all the way to enforcing their claims - without stress or cost risk*. If the rent is too high, we take on the case and enforce a reduction, all the way to court if necessary.

We are fighting on behalf of tenants for compliance with rent control. We see this as an important way of preserving affordable housing.

*Full assumption of legal fees and court costs.