Sublease of a room in a shared flat (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
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.
The agreement by which the main tenant of a flat in Germany sublets a room in the shared flat (WG): the room and shared use of kitchen and bathroom, rent with a flat-rate charge for utilities, the deposit under § 551 of the German Civil Code (BGB), house rules and notice. It records the landlord's permission to sublet (§ 540 BGB) and sets the notice period by whether the room is furnished and the main tenant lives in the flat — then notice by the 15th takes effect at the end of that month. Open-ended or with an end date, for a semester for instance. In German, to print and sign.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Main tenant (sublandlord)
- Address of the property
- Subtenant
- Subtenant's date of birth
- Subtenant's current address
- Head landlord (landlord of the whole flat)
- Date of the landlord's permission to sublet
- 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)
- Protection against notice: furnished room in the main tenant's own flat, or full protection
- 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
- Does the main tenant in Germany need the landlord's permission to sublet a room in a shared flat?
- Yes. Without permission a tenant may not let a third party use even part of the flat (§ 540 BGB). If a legitimate interest arose after the lease was signed — a separation, a stay abroad or a lower income, for instance — the tenant has a claim to permission for part of the flat (§ 553 BGB). If the landlord refuses without an important reason concerning the subtenant, the tenant may give extraordinary notice with the statutory period (§ 540(1), second sentence, BGB).
- What notice period applies to a sublet room in a German shared flat?
- It depends on the room. If it is furnished and part of the flat the main tenant lives in, either side may give notice by the 15th of a month to the end of that month, and the main tenant needs no reason (§ 549(2) no. 2 and § 573c(3) BGB) — unless the subtenant lives there for good with family or a partner. Otherwise full protection applies: three months for the subtenant, and the main tenant may give notice only under §§ 573 and 573a BGB. Notice must be signed by hand or with a qualified electronic signature (§ 568(1) BGB); e-mail is not enough.
- What happens to a German sublease when the main lease ends?
- The sublease does not end by itself. But once the main lease has ended, the head landlord can demand the rooms back from the subtenant too (§ 546(2) BGB). The main tenant should therefore tell the subtenant at once when the main lease is terminated and end the sublease in time; otherwise the main tenant may owe the subtenant damages.
- Which kind of German flat share is this sublease meant for?
- For the flat share in which one main tenant has rented the flat and sublets single rooms. If every flatmate signed the lease, no sublease is needed: all are tenants, are jointly liable and can only give notice together; anyone leaving needs the consent of the landlord and the others. If the owner signs a separate contract for each room, that is an ordinary lease — and if the owner lives in the flat, the lease of a furnished 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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