A new online rent calculator launched by Germany’s Left Party (die Linke) has found over 20.000 cases of rent exploitation across eight German cities.

Rent exploitation on the rise in Germany

In mid-November 2024, die Linke launched an online rent exploitation calculator (Mietwucher-Rechner), which has now been 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 that they are paying 20 percent over the local comparative rent cap limit, which is determined by the rent index (Mietspiegel). Of these 22.000 users, 13.000 found that they were being charged rents 50 percent over the Mietspiegel limit.

The rent cap was first introduced by the CDU-led grand coalition in 2015, to prevent rents in popular residential areas from going through the roof. Under the law, if a landlord changes a tenant more than 10 percent over the Mietspiegel limit, the tenant is entitled to a rent reduction and refund of any overcharged rent they have already paid.

Landlords in Germany who are charging 20 percent over the Mietspiegel limit can face fines of up to 50.000 euros, while those charging over 50 percent may be committing a criminal offence and can face prison time.

1.419 tenants reported their landlords to housing authorities

If they found that they were being charged exploitatively high rent, tenants using die Linke’s online calculator could report their landlord to the local housing authority, who would act on their behalf to reduce the rent in the public interest. 1.419 people used die Linke’s calculator to report their landlord.

Recent years have seen rents shoot up, especially in major cities. Across Germany, average asking rents sit at 8,54 euros per square meter, compared to 20,97 euros per square meter in Munich, 14,97 euros per square metre in Frankfurt and 14,19 euros per square meter in Berlin, according to 2024 figures from Immoscout24.

“This is an important relief at a time when many people have to spend more than a third of their income on rent,” die Linke MP Heidi Reichinnek told SPIEGEL.

An October 2024 study from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) found that the number of tenants spending more than 40 percent of their income on rent has nearly tripled since the early 1990s, from 5 percent to 14 percent of households.

Germany is the EU country where renters outnumber buyers, but only just. According to 2021 figures from Eurostat, 49,1 percent of residents in Germany are homeowners and 50,9 percent are tenants.

If you think your landlord may be charging too much rent and you live in one of the eight German cities mentioned above, you can find out more on die Linke’s Mietwucher-Rechner website.

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