Berlin-Wilmersdorf (Mainzer Straße) – furnished sublet: rent reduced from €1,200 to €750, €900 repaid and €2,070 of the deposit released
Date Published
An approximately 65 m² furnished two-room period apartment in Berlin-Wilmersdorf was sublet at a warm rent of €1,440 – as an all-inclusive rent, without a separately stated net cold rent. Our review against the Berlin rent index 2024 showed a very significant exceedance of the rent permitted under the rent cap.
Does the rent cap also apply to furnished subletting? Yes. In relation to the subtenant, the sublandlord is the “landlord” within the meaning of §§ 556d ff. BGB and is therefore bound by the permissible rent. Berlin – including Wilmersdorf – is designated throughout as an area with a strained housing market.
Does furnishing justify a higher rent? Only to a very limited extent. What is permitted is solely a surcharge oriented to the current value of the furniture (in Berlin typically 2% of that value per month). With used furniture that is often only a few euros – here the claimed €100 ended up as €15 per month.
As is often the case – including here – only a warm rent is agreed, without disclosing the net cold rent and furnishing surcharge. That makes scrutiny harder, but does not change the legal position: the tenant has a right to information (§ 556g para. 3 BGB), and the permissible rent can still be determined. The permissible net cold rent was around €614; about €1,200 was being paid – almost double.
We objected to the exceedance and demanded a rent reduction, repayment of amounts overpaid from receipt of the objection, and release of the deposit paid above the statutory limit (§ 551 BGB). A few weeks later an out-of-court settlement was in place: net cold rent of €750 instead of around €1,200 – relief of €450 per month and more than €5,000 a year – €900 repaid, the deposit reduced from €4,320 to €2,250 and thus €2,070 released, plus two thirds of the legal costs borne by the landlord. The all-inclusive rent was recast as a transparent structure with a separate furnishing surcharge and an operating-cost advance to be accounted for. That the agreed €750 is above the calculated maximum is the price of a swift solution without court proceedings.
Anyone who objects within the first 30 months after the tenancy begins can usually reclaim overpaid rent since the start of the tenancy (§ 556g para. 2 BGB). Even later, a review is worthwhile: the rent can at least be reduced for the future, and overpaid amounts from receipt of the objection can be recovered.
Any repayments flow in full to the tenants – without assignment and without commission.
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