Berlin tenants overpay €4.100 in rent per year, study finds

A new rental atlas by Allright has found that Berliners pay an average of 4.100 euros too much in rent each year. In which neighbourhoods are tenants overpaying the most?

Allright reviews 1.300 rental contracts

To create its 2025 rental atlas, Berlin-based law firm Allright reviewed 1.300 genuine rental contracts and found that Berliners are paying an average of 60 percent over the legal rent limit set by the nationwide rent index (Mietspiegel).

The firm found that tenants are being overcharged across all 12 districts, but particularly tenants living in central districts and in small flats. People living in flats of 40 square metres or less pay an average of 9 euros per square metre more than the rent index allows.

According to Allright, this means single people and students are hit particularly badly by rent exploitation and the affordable housing crisis more broadly, because they are more easily compelled to accept illegal prices charged for single units.

Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf renters overcharged the most

So where in Berlin are tenants being overcharged the most? In Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. In the affluent western district, tenants are charged an average of 14,52 euros per square metre, 7,49 euros over the legal limit of 6,76 euros per square metre set by the rent index. This means they are paying an average of 111 percent over the limit.

Landlords renting out properties in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg are the second-worst offenders for illegal overcharging. Tenants in the trendy eastern district pay an average of 15,93 euros per square metre, compared to the 7,63 euros per square metre legal limit, a 109 percent difference.

In Mitte, tenants pay an average of 13,82 euros per square metre compared to the 7,44-euro legal limit (86 percent over); in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, 82 percent over; and in Lichtenberg, 57 percent over the legal limit.

If you think you are paying too much rent, you can contact Berlin’s Rent Review Office (Mietpreisprüfstelle) for information and advice about how to enforce your right to a rent reduction.