Lease of a furnished room in the landlord's own flat (Germany)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A lease of a furnished room in a flat in Germany that the landlord lives in — whether as owner or as a tenant with permission to sublet — with shared use of kitchen and bathroom. Under § 549(2) no. 2 of the German Civil Code (BGB) such a room has only limited tenant protection: no rent cap, no rent-increase rules, and notice by either side by the 15th to the end of the month, without a reason. With an inventory of the furniture, a flat-rate charge for utilities, the deposit under § 551 BGB, house rules and an optional end date. In German, to print and sign.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Landlord
- Address of the property
- Tenant
- Tenant's date of birth
- Tenant's address
- Description of the room
- Shared areas the tenant may use
- Keys
- Inventory of furnishings
- Start date
- End of the contract (leave empty if it is open-ended)
- Rent
- Amount for utilities
- Utilities
- IBAN
- Deposit
- House rules for living together
- Other terms
- City
- Date
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- What tenant protection applies to a furnished room in a German landlord's own flat?
- A limited one. For a room that is part of the flat the landlord lives in, that the landlord mostly furnishes and that is not let to a family or a lasting joint household for permanent use, neither the rent cap nor the rules on rent increases, protection against notice and the hardship objection apply (§ 549(2) no. 2 BGB). The deposit is still capped at three months' rent (§ 551 BGB), and notice still needs written form (§ 568(1) BGB).
- What notice period applies to a furnished room in a German landlord's flat?
- Notice that arrives by the 15th of a month ends the tenancy at the end of that month, for both sides (§ 573c(3) BGB), and the landlord need not give a reason. It must be signed by hand or with a qualified electronic signature (§ 568(1) BGB) and must reach the other side by the 15th — posting it is not enough (§ 130 BGB). The safest route is handing it over against a signed receipt, or by a messenger who has read the letter and can testify to putting it in the letterbox.
- What if the person letting the room in Germany is only a tenant of the flat?
- Then the agreement is a sublease and needs that person's own landlord's permission (§ 540 BGB); for part of the flat there is a claim to it where a legitimate interest arose after the main lease was signed (§ 553 BGB). The room lease does not end by itself with the main lease, but the owner can then demand the rooms back from the room tenant as well (§ 546(2) BGB). For a flat share with several subtenants, the sublease for a shared-flat room fits.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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