Housing & property

Rent, buy or manage a home — with honest 2026 numbers.

Decision workspace

Rent check

Rent, buy or manage a home — with honest 2026 numbers.

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Section tools

Tenant protection

Rent Shield

Four statutory checks every tenant should run — deposit cap, rent-increase limit, notice periods and utility-cost plausibility. Pure law math, nothing stored.

Deposit check (Kaution)

Rent-increase check (Mieterhöhung)

My city has the lowered cap (Kappungsgrenze 15% — most large cities)

Date of the last increase (or contract start)

Notice periods (Kündigungsfristen)

Who terminates?

Why this?

As a tenant your notice period is always 3 months — regardless of how long you have lived there (§ 573c Abs. 1 BGB). The letter must arrive by the 3rd working day of a month to count for that month.

Date the letter will arrive

Bundesland (drives the official holiday calendar)

Utility-cost plausibility (Nebenkosten)

Broadcast-fee radar (Rundfunkbeitrag, ~€220/year)

One fee covers the WHOLE dwelling (§ 2 RBStV) — many flatmates and couples pay twice without knowing. Three quick questions:

Does someone else in your dwelling (flatmate/partner) already pay the fee?

Do you receive BAföG, Bürgergeld or Sozialhilfe?

Do you pay the fee yourself right now?

Suggested next steps

Scan the rental contractScan the contract before signing — spot illegal clauses.Open tenancy resourcesOfficial tenant-law association (Mieterbund).

All results are statutory arithmetic over your inputs (BGB, figures as cited; nothing is stored). General information, not legal advice (§ 2 RDG) — tenant associations (Mieterverein) offer binding case review.

Official German sourcesLast updated: Reviewed regularlyMethodology