A group of politicians in Berlin are calling on the German federal government to make it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants by claiming their property for “personal use” (Eigenbedarf).

Eigenbedarf evictions should be harder in Germany, says Berlin cross-party group

An alliance of Berlin politicians from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens, Left Party (Linke) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are calling on the incoming CDU-SPD federal coalition to make it more difficult for landlords to evict tenants on the basis of “Eigenbedarf” (personal use).

Currently, landlords in Germany can evict tenants if they want to use the property themselves. This can also apply if the landlords want to let their family members rent the property. 

Landlords in Germany can give tenants as little as one month's notice if they would like to end the rental contract on the basis of Eigenbedarf. The cross-party group of Berlin politicians is suggesting this notice period be extended.

The group also proposes limiting which family members a landlord can move in using an Eigenbedarf claim. Current rules mean landlords can move in any relatives, regardless of how distantly related they are, while the proposed rules would limit eligible new tenants to immediate relatives, such as their own children.

Since it is otherwise relatively hard for landlords to evict tenants with unlimited rental contracts, Eigenbedarf claims are one of the most common eviction techniques in Germany. According to the Berlin Tenants’ Association (Berliner Mieterverein), around 100.000 renting households in the capital receive Eigenbedarf notices each year.

The tenants’ organisation is supporting the cross-party push alongside the German Tenants’ Association (Deutscher Mieterbund), and the respective associations in Hamburg and Munich.

CDU says it is necessary to diverge from business as usual

The centre-right, conservative CDU aren’t typical bedfellows for such a reform. Such proposals are “not classically part of a CDU manifesto,” CDU representative in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Christoph Brzezinski admitted at a press conference on March 17. 

But, Brzezinski added, “We have a situation in Berlin and the other major cities in which it is an understatement to simply speak of a tense situation.” Rather, the situation is so dramatic that it is “not just a political issue, but one of the two or three most important social issues of our time,” the politician urged.

This isn’t the first time Berlin’s CDU politicians have chosen to acknowledge the gravity of the city’s rental crisis. In November 2024, the capital’s mayor, Kai Wegner (CDU), called on the federal government to regulate rents more strictly. “I would like to see a cap on rent increases introduced nationwide,” Wegner told the local newspaper, Tagesspiegel.

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