- Noise from professional building work is a defect if it noticeably restricts your use of the flat. Your neighbour's drill is not.
- 5 to 35 per cent is what courts have awarded, more where scaffolding, dust and constant noise come together. What matters is duration, time of day and which floor you live on.
- From the day you report it, not from the start of work: the reduction only runs once the landlord knows (§ 536c BGB).
- A noise log decides the case: date, time, type of noise, three lines a day.
Paying too much rent?
See in two minutes whether your rent is above the legal limit. Free, no risk.
When is construction noise a rental defect?
Your flat must be usable in the way the tenancy agreement promises. If construction noise costs you sleep, quiet or the ability to work from home, the flat is worth less and the rent falls by operation of law (§ 536 BGB). It makes no difference whether you are at home during the day or whether your landlord could have prevented the building work.
Typical construction noise that courts recognise:
Two cases are different. A neighbour drilling holes for a shelf only has to keep to the quiet hours in the house rules; that is not construction noise. And a building site on the neighbouring plot is, according to the Federal Court of Justice, only a defect if your landlord would not have to accept the noise as normal for the area either (BGH, VIII ZR 31/18). In a city you often have to put up with a building going up next door; noise and dust beyond the usual level you do not.
How much reduction is possible?
There is no fixed table. Courts look at three things: how loud and for how many hours a day, for how many weeks or months, and how badly your flat is affected. A tenant living directly below a loft conversion reduces by more than the tenant on the ground floor.
Example: four months of renovation in the building, chiselling on weekdays from 7 am to 5 pm, scaffolding in front of the windows. You pay 1,100 euros gross rent (Warmmiete, including service charges).
At a rate of 20 per cent you reduce each of those months by 220 euros, 880 euros in total.
Do not set the rate too high
If you reduce by more than is recognised in the end, you fall into arrears. Two months' rent in arrears justifies termination without notice. If in doubt, pay under reservation and reclaim the difference.
When is the reduction excluded?
- Energy-efficiency modernisation, the first three months: if your landlord insulates the building or replaces the heating with a more efficient system, the reduction is excluded for three months (§ 536 Abs. 1a BGB). From the fourth month you reduce again. The exclusion does not apply to other modernisations, such as a loft conversion.
- Known when you signed: if the landlord mentioned the building site when the tenancy agreement was signed, or it was there in plain sight, you rented the flat with that noise. If the noise then clearly exceeds what was announced, you reduce for the excess.
- New development area: if you move into a neighbourhood that is still being built, you have to expect construction noise.
- Sundays and public holidays: there is no licence for construction noise on these days, not even for modernisation. It is a regulatory offence, and you can report it to the public order office (Ordnungsamt).
What your landlord may pass on to the rent after a modernisation is explained under Rent increase after modernisation.
How to proceed
- 1. Keep a log: date, time from and to, type of noise, what it stopped you doing. Photos of the scaffolding and the dust.
- 2. Inform your landlord in writing: the reduction runs from this day. Ask how long the work will take.
- 3. Set a rate and state it: give the rate and the period. Or pay under reservation and settle up at the end.
- 4. Collect evidence: site notices, posted announcements, neighbours as witnesses.
How the rate works out in numbers is shown in Calculating a rent reduction; which noise counts apart from building sites is explained under Rent reduction for noise.
Common questions about construction noise
Do I have to be at home during the day to reduce the rent?
No. The flat is worth less even while you are at work. It can, however, affect the size of the rate.
My landlord is not the developer. Do I still reduce?
For work in your own building, yes. For a building site on the neighbouring plot, only if the noise goes beyond what is normal for the location.
Can I reduce retroactively for the whole construction period?
Only from the day the landlord knew about the disturbance. So report it on the first day.
What happens if my landlord rejects the reduction?
The reduction takes effect by operation of law; you do not need their consent. A dispute over the amount is settled by a court if need be, with your log as the basis.
Is your rent above the limit?
CONNY checks for free whether rent control applies to your flat and enforces the reduction. You only pay if we succeed.