Overview

• The share of furnished listings nationwide climbed 45% from 2013 to 2022 and now makes up about one in three rental offers in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne.
• German law provides no statutory definition of “furnished housing,” so lease agreements must explicitly list which furniture items are included.
• Landlords increasingly rely on fixed-term, temporary rental contracts to exempt furnished units from the Mietpreisbremse rent cap.
• Tenants face monthly furniture surcharges to amortize acquisition costs, with no legal requirement to itemize these fees separately from base rent.
• Deutscher Mieterbund and other tenant associations are urging the Bundesjustizministerium to mandate transparent lease provisions and tighten oversight of surcharge and tenancy practices.