Rents in German cities up 44 percent since 2016

According to figures from the German government, rents in major German cities have risen by an average of 44 percent since 2016. Rents in Berlin have risen by nearly 70 percent.

Tenants face unaffordable rent rises in Germany

Following an information request from Bundestag member Caren Lay (The Left Party), the federal government has released figures about rent rises in Germany since 2016.

In 14 of the 15 largest German cities, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dortmund, Essen, Bremen, Dresden, Nuremberg and Duisburg, rents rose by an average of 44 percent between 2016 and 2025.

Berlin and Leipzig have seen the greatest increases in this period. Landlords in the capital are now charging tenants an average of 69 percent more than they were in 2016, and in Leipzig, an average of 67 percent more. All other German cities have seen average rents rise by somewhere between 46 and 36 percent since 2016. 

In 2025, as in 2016, Munich remains the most expensive German city for renters, with tenants paying an average of 21,29 euros per square metre. In 2016, Berlin tenants were paying an average of 9,02 euros per square metre; this has increased to 15,25 euros per square metre.

Lay says German rent brake is too flimsy

In 2015, Germany’s CDU-led government introduced the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse), which determines how much landlords can legally charge their tenants in areas with a “strained housing market”. 

Around 410 of the 11.000 municipalities in Germany are considered to have a “strained housing market”. In these areas, landlords cannot charge more than 10 percent over the “local comparative rent”, which is determined by the rent index (Mietspiegel).

In Lay’s opinion, the brake has failed to protect tenants from the explosion of unaffordable rents. “The rent brake may be effective in individual cases, but it is not sufficient to curb the rapid rise in asking rents,” the Bundestag member for Saxony told parliament.

Lay said the existing law had too many loopholes to work effectively, such as allowing landlords to charge more for furnished properties or short-term rentals. But according to The Left Party’s rent exploitation calculator, many landlords are also overcharging on rental contracts where the rent brake applies.

Landlords overcharge even when rent brake applies

The party launched its rent exploitation calculator (Mietwucher-Rechner) in 2024. Tenants in Germany can use the online calculator to find out if their landlord is charging illegally high rent.

In the first year after launch, the calculator was used by 220.000 tenants, around two-thirds of whom found they were being overcharged. Among the tenants who found they were paying too much, half found that they were paying 50 percent over the maximum local comparative rent set by the rent index. 

If you think you are being charged illegally high rent, use the calculator to check (also in English). If you find you are being overcharged, you can contact your local tenants association (Mieterverein) for advice about contesting your rent.