Lowering rent in shared flats – CONNY can help

Shared flats (WGs) can also use CONNY to apply the rent brake and lower their rent. Here you'll find out how it works and what to look out for.

Is our rent too high? – Check your rent easily online

You can easily calculate here whether your rent is too high as well. We just need a few details about your tenancy agreement and your flat, and we can then compare your information with the rent index (Mietspiegel). That way we calculate exactly how far your rent deviates from the rent index and what your maximum savings potential is.
The calculation is free and without obligation. This makes it a good basis for discussing in your flatshare how you want to proceed.

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If you just want a very rough estimate first, you can also use the mini calculator directly on www.conny.de.

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Lower your rent with the rent brake

The rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) is a law that has applied nationwide since 2015. Its implementation lies with the federal states and varies from state to state. You can find an overview of where and since when the rent brake applies at: “Where does the rent brake apply?”

The rent brake generally does not apply to student halls of residence or subsidised (social) housing. You can find more information about the rent brake on our information page.

We have enforced the rent brake thousands of times, and on average we lower our customers' rent by around €200.
Every day we see that shared flats pay enormously high rents – and we can help make housing affordable again.

Kamilla and her flatmates successfully halved their rent with us and have been saving €550 a month ever since! You can read the full story here.


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Special case: shared flats – what to look out for and how to proceed

Since the contractual arrangements in shared flats can vary widely, here is a summary of the 3 most common contract models and what you need to bear in mind in each case.

Several main tenants

If several main tenants are named in the tenancy agreement, all tenants must grant CONNY a power of attorney so that we can represent you vis-à-vis your landlord.
CONNY takes care of the entire practical side, and our service team will guide you through the sign-up process or help with any general questions.

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Here you'll find answers to the most frequently asked questions:

As long as the tenancy agreement remains in place and at least one of the tenants who granted power of attorney is still part of the tenancy, the process simply continues as normal.
Please let us know about any changes in the tenant line-up so that we can make any necessary adjustments to the proceedings.

The duration of a case cannot be stated in advance, as it depends primarily on the landlord. Are they willing to settle, or does CONNY have to go to court with its partner lawyers? How quickly does the landlord respond to enquiries, reminders, etc.? We are always interested in an amicable settlement. But if that is not possible, we will also go to court to enforce your interests.
If the case is heard in court, the court's processing times are added on top, and these vary depending on the court and its workload.
Our shortest case was closed within 24 hours; other cases run for years. Important: no matter how long the case takes, you are not at a disadvantage. Your entitlement to a rent reduction applies from the date of the objection (Rüge) or from the start of the tenancy (depending on when the agreement began). If the process takes several months, you will be reimbursed the rent reduction retroactively accordingly.

In the first step, one of the main tenants signs up. This person is then also our main point of contact, and all communication with us goes through them.

For the next steps, our main contact person is sent a power of attorney, which must then be signed by all main tenants. This authorises CONNY to represent all main tenants vis-à-vis the landlord.

1 main tenant and subtenants

If you are the main tenant, you can simply instruct CONNY. Your subtenants are not affected by the case as such. As a result, the rent under your tenancy agreement is reduced; the tenancies between you and your subtenants initially remain unchanged and can be adjusted among yourselves.

If you are the subtenant, you would in theory have to issue an objection to your main tenant and reduce your rent vis-à-vis the main tenant. This is theoretically possible, but not advisable in practice, because a subtenant does not enjoy the same rights as the main tenant.
We therefore recommend that you persuade the main tenant to lower the rent vis-à-vis the landlord in their capacity as main tenant and to share the savings. You can use the CONNY referral programme for this, for example, where you each receive a €30 voucher.

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Individual contracts with the landlord

If each flatmate has their own contract with the landlord, each tenant can have their rent checked and reduced individually.
For this, the rent is set in relation to the floor area of your own room + a share of the jointly used space.

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Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions:

As a flatshare resident with your own tenancy agreement, you do not enter the total size of the flat here, but only the size of your room + your share of the jointly used rooms.
An example:

  • Total size of the flatshare: 100 sqm
  • Number of residents: 4
  • Jointly used rooms: kitchen (6 sqm), bathroom (5 sqm), hallway (12 sqm)
  • Your room: 15 sqm
  • Your net cold rent: €500

In your case, the total size of the flat is irrelevant.
The living space you use is made up of the size of your room (15 sqm) and, since there are 4 of you in the flatshare, 1/4 of the jointly used rooms such as the bathroom, kitchen and hallway.
So the "flat size" you need to enter is 15 sqm + 6/4 sqm + 5/4 sqm + 12/4 sqm = 20.75 sqm. This is then set in relation to your cold rent of €500.
When providing details about the rooms in the flat, however, you need to look at the whole room again. In other words, if asked whether you have a small bathroom of <4 sqm, the answer in this example is no, because the bathroom is 5 sqm.

No. Since you have your own contract with your landlord, the rent reduction achieved applies only to you. Your flatmates are completely unaffected.

Of course, you can recommend us to your flatmates. If you use our referral programme, you and your friends each receive a €30 voucher if we accept their case too.

If your flat theoretically has features from our questionnaire, such as several bathrooms, but you cannot use them, please contact our service team while filling in the questionnaire. Such situations depend very much on the individual case. We are happy to help you with your specific situation. Arrange a callback with us here.

CONNY gets you your rights!

  1. Fill in the online questionnaire and get your result straight away.
  1. We review your case and enforce your rent brake claim once you instruct us.
  1. Your claim is paid out to you. CONNY covers all legal and court costs.
How it works
in detail

Thousands of tenants are already enforcing the rent brake with CONNY. You can expect an average saving of €200 per month.

Calculate your potential rent savings now in just a few minutes.

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