SPD wants to fine German landlords for overcharging rent

The SPD has said it will establish an expert commission tasked with strengthening the German rent brake law (Mietpreisbremse). One new measure could be fining landlords who overcharge rent.

Hubig wants to reform German rent brake law

Germany’s Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has said that her party will establish an expert commission to evaluate how the rent brake can be strengthened to better protect tenants.

“An expert commission will begin work after the summer holiday,” Hubig told the dpa, “[the commission] will concern itself with further urgent questions around rental rights.” 

The expert commission will be composed of justice experts, academics, representatives from tenant and landlord associations, as well as the German Association of Cities. The group will present its findings by December 31, 2026.

The idea of fining landlords who overcharge rent has already been written into the CDU/CSU-SPD’s coalition agreement, which was announced in April. The government also plans to regulate rents for furnished apartments for the first time and establish advice centres for people living in shared housing (WGs).

Exploitative landlords should face harsher repercussions, says Hubig

Under the current rules, if a tenant discovers they are being overcharged for rent according to the local rent index (Mietspiegel) and successfully challenges their landlord, the landlord must refund the overpayment. “Landlords don’t have anything else to fear,” Hubig told the dpa, “This is unsatisfactory in my opinion.”

Hubig emphasised that many “decent tenants” with low or middle incomes in Germany are hesitant to challenge illegally high rents because of Germany’s housing shortage. The minister said this proved it was time for lawmakers to step in.

Giving existing laws on rent exploitation more “bite” is also on the cards. While landlords found to be charging any amount over the local Mietspiegel limit must refund tenants, landlords charging more than 20 percent over the limit also face fines of up to 50.000 euros for rent exploitation. Landlords charging 50 percent over the limit may be committing a criminal offence and can face prison time.

In mid-November 2024, The Left Party (Die Linke) launched an online rent exploitation calculator, which was used by 32.000 people living in eight German cities; Berlin, Hamburg, Freiburg, Leipzig, Munich, Erfurt, Dortmund and Hanover.

According to the party, 22.000 users found they were paying at least 20 percent over the local Mietspiegel limit. Of these 22.000 users, 13.000 found that they were being charged rents 50 percent over the limit.