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Residential lease agreement template for Germany

Residential leaseMietvertrag über Wohnraum

A lease for an unfurnished home, open-ended by default, under BGB §§ 535 ff. It covers the parties, the home, the term, the rent and operating costs, rent changes, the deposit, use, repairs, notice, return of the home, and the landlord's registration and energy certificate duties.

Use it when a private landlord lets a flat or a house as the tenant's home. Do not use it for a furnished room in the landlord's own flat, a holiday or short let for temporary use, student or youth housing, or social housing with a public rent restriction: special rules apply to them. Most tenant protections in the BGB are mandatory, so a clause that departs from them to the tenant's disadvantage has no effect.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Key facts

Applies to
Whole country. The rent brake and the lower cap on rent increases apply only in municipalities that a Land regulation designates; the local rent index (Mietspiegel) sets the comparative rent.
Deposit cap
3 months' rent excluding operating costs. The tenant may pay it in 3 monthly instalments (BGB § 551).
Tenant's notice
No reason needed. By the 3rd working day of a month, to the end of the month after next, about 3 months (§ 573c(1)).
Landlord's notice
Only with a legitimate interest, such as own use (§ 573). 3 months, 6 months after 5 years, 9 months after 8 years (§ 573c(1)).
Rent brake
In designated areas the starting rent may be at most 10% above the local comparative rent. Designations may run until 31 Dec 2029 (§ 556d).
Rent brake exceptions
Previous tenant's rent, modernisation in the last 3 years, first use after 1 October 2014, first letting after comprehensive modernisation.
Rent increase to the comparative rent
After 15 months without change. At most 20% in 3 years, 15% in designated areas (§ 558).
Operating cost statement
Due within 12 months after the end of the accounting period. Later back-payment claims are lost (§ 556(3)).
Rent due date
In advance, by the 3rd working day of each month (§ 556b(1)).
Written form
A lease for more than 1 year not in written form runs for an indefinite term (§ 550). A notice must be in written form (§ 568(1)).
Landlord's damage claims
Time-barred 6 months after the landlord gets the home back (§ 548(1)).

The document

Text shown

You sign the German version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Residential lease

  1. 1.Parties

    1. 1.1

      Landlord: Landlord, Landlord's address, represented by Landlord's representative, if any.

      Name every owner who lets the home. A property manager signs only with a written power of attorney.

    2. 1.2

      Tenant: Tenant or tenants, currently residing at Tenant's current address.

      Give each tenant's date of birth. Every person named here is a party and signs. A partner who moves in later without being named is not a tenant.

  2. 2.Premises

    1. 2.1

      The flat at Address of the home, Floor and position, consisting of Rooms, is let for residential use. The living area is approximately Living area m².

      State the area you have measured. A real area much smaller than stated leads to disputes about the rent.

    2. 2.2

      Also let are: Rooms let with the home. The tenant may use the following shared facilities in accordance with the house rules: Shared facilities.

      Give the number of each cellar, garage or parking space.

    3. 2.3

      The following keys are handed over to the tenant: Keys handed over.

      Give the number and type of each key. Record the keys again in the handover report.

  3. 3.Term

    1. 3.1

      Optional

      The tenancy begins on Start of the lease and runs for an indefinite term.

      Keep this clause or the next one. An open-ended lease is the normal case in Germany.

    2. 3.2

      Optional

      The tenancy begins on Start of the lease and ends on End of a fixed term. At signing, the landlord informs the tenant in writing of the reason for the fixed term: after the end of the term, the landlord intends to Reason for the fixed term (section 575(1) BGB).

      Keep one of the two clauses. Reasons: own use by landlord or family, major works, letting to an employee. Describe it concretely, or the lease is open-ended.

  4. 4.Rent

    1. 4.1

      The monthly rent is: net rent excluding operating costs Net rent (Nettokaltmiete) euros; advance on operating costs Operating costs advance euros; advance on heating and hot water costs Heating and hot water advance euros; total Total monthly payment euros.

      Advances must be reasonable, close to the expected real costs.

    2. 4.2

      Optional

      The flat is in an area with a tight housing market designated by regulation (section 556d BGB). Before the tenant signed, the landlord gave the tenant the following information in text form under section 556g(1a) BGB: Rent brake information.

      Keep only in a rent brake area where an exception lets the rent exceed the comparative rent by over 10%. Without this prior information, the exception fails.

  5. 5.Rent changes

    1. 5.1

      Optional

      The rent may be changed in accordance with the statutory rules, in particular up to the local comparative rent (section 558 BGB).

      Keep one of the three clauses. This is the default. The landlord can ask for an increase after 15 months unchanged, within the caps in the key facts.

    2. 5.2

      Optional

      The net rent increases as follows (stepped rent under section 557a BGB): Rent steps. Each rent remains unchanged for at least one year. While the stepped rent applies, increases under sections 558 to 559b BGB are excluded.

      Keep one of the three clauses. State each step in euros, at least one year apart. In a rent brake area each step must respect the cap at the date it starts.

    3. 5.3

      Optional

      The net rent is linked to the consumer price index for all private households in Germany published by the Federal Statistical Office (index rent under section 557b BGB). The base value is the index for the month of Base month of the price index. A change in rent must be claimed by a declaration in text form stating the change in the index and the new rent or the increase in euros. Each rent must remain unchanged for at least one year. The changed rent is payable from the start of the month after next following receipt of the declaration.

      Keep one of the three clauses. During an index rent the landlord cannot use the comparative-rent increase. See the pending bill on index rises above 3%.

  6. 6.Operating costs

    1. 6.1

      The tenant bears the following operating costs within the meaning of section 2 of the Operating Costs Ordinance: Operating costs the tenant pays. They are allocated by Allocation key unless they are metered.

      Name each type. The landlord can pass on only operating costs the lease names. Repairs and management costs are not operating costs.

    2. 6.2

      Heating and hot water costs are billed according to consumption under the Heating Costs Ordinance.

      Delete this clause if the tenant has an individual gas or electricity contract for heating.

    3. 6.3

      The landlord accounts for the advances once a year. The statement must reach the tenant no later than twelve months after the end of the accounting period. The tenant may inspect the receipts.

      After that deadline the landlord loses any back-payment, unless the landlord is not at fault. The tenant has 12 months after receiving the statement to object.

  7. 7.Payment of rent

    1. 7.1

      The rent is payable monthly in advance, no later than the third working day of each month, free of charges, to the following account: Landlord's bank account.

  8. 8.Deposit

    1. 8.1

      The tenant provides a deposit of Deposit euros. It is at most three times the monthly net rent. The tenant may pay it in three equal monthly instalments. The first instalment is due at the start of the tenancy, the others together with the immediately following rent payments.

      At most 3 times the net rent. A clause that asks for more, or for the whole sum at once, is void in that respect.

    2. 8.2

      The landlord invests the deposit separately from the landlord's own assets with a credit institution at the usual interest rate for savings deposits with three months' notice. The interest belongs to the tenant and increases the deposit.

    3. 8.3

      After the end of the tenancy and the return of the flat, the landlord accounts for the deposit within a reasonable period and repays it with interest, to the extent that the landlord has no remaining claims under the tenancy.

      The law sets no fixed deadline. The landlord may keep a reasonable part until the last operating cost statement is done.

  9. 9.Use of the premises

    1. 9.1

      The flat will be occupied by the following persons: Persons who will live in the home. Subletting or otherwise giving the flat to third parties requires the landlord's permission.

      List everyone who will live in the flat. Ask the landlord in writing before anyone else moves in.

    2. 9.2

      Pets: Pets.

      Agree each pet in writing to avoid disputes.

    3. 9.3

      The house rules in the annex form part of this contract.

      Delete this clause if there are no house rules.

  10. 10.Maintenance and decoration

    1. 10.1

      The landlord keeps the flat in a condition suitable for the contractual use throughout the tenancy. The tenant reports defects and damage to the landlord without delay.

    2. 10.2

      Optional

      The flat is handed over freshly decorated. The tenant carries out the decoration work properly, to the extent that the condition of the flat requires it as a result of the tenant's use. Decoration work means papering and painting walls and ceilings, and painting radiators and pipes, interior doors, and windows and exterior doors from the inside.

      Delete for an unrenovated flat, unless the tenant gets fair compensation. Add no fixed intervals and no duty to redecorate at the end regardless of condition.

  11. 11.Notice

    1. 11.1

      Notice must be given in written form. What counts for timeliness is receipt by the addressee.

      Written form means a paper letter signed by hand. An email, a fax or a text message is not enough.

    2. 11.2

      The tenant may give notice no later than the third working day of a calendar month to the end of the month after next. The landlord may give notice only if the landlord has a legitimate interest in ending the tenancy (section 573 BGB). The landlord's notice period increases by three months each after five and eight years from the handover of the home.

      A landlord's notice must state its reasons. Notice in order to raise the rent is excluded.

    3. 11.3

      The right to terminate without notice for good cause under sections 543 and 569 BGB is not affected.

      Good cause includes arrears of more than one month's rent on two consecutive due dates, or arrears reaching two months' rent over a longer period.

  12. 12.Return of the premises

    1. 12.1

      At the end of the tenancy, the tenant returns the flat cleared, swept clean and with all keys. The tenant is not responsible for changes or deterioration caused by the contractual use.

    2. 12.2

      At move-in and move-out, the parties jointly draw up a handover report with the meter readings. Both parties sign it and each receives a copy.

      The landlord's claims for damage are time-barred six months after the landlord gets the flat back, so the exit report matters.

  13. 13.Several tenants

    1. 13.1

      Several tenants are jointly and severally liable for all obligations under this contract. A notice must be given by all tenants and be addressed to all tenants.

      Delete this section if there is only one tenant. One tenant alone cannot end the lease for everybody.

  14. 14.Energy certificate, move-in confirmation and broker

    1. 14.1

      The landlord showed the tenant the energy performance certificate at the viewing at the latest and gives the tenant a copy: Energy certificate. The energy certificate is for information; it is not an agreement on the condition of the flat.

      Give the type (demand or consumption), the energy class and the issue date.

    2. 14.2

      The landlord confirms the move-in to the tenant in writing within two weeks after the move-in (landlord's confirmation under section 19 BMG).

      The tenant needs this confirmation to register at the registration office within two weeks after moving in.

    3. 14.3

      Optional

      If the landlord has instructed a letting agent, the landlord alone bears the agent's fee.

      A broker may charge the tenant only if the tenant hired the broker and the broker found the flat solely for that tenant.

  15. 15.Other agreements

    1. 15.1

      Other agreements

      A clause departing from the BGB tenancy rules to the tenant's disadvantage is void where the law says so: deposit, notice periods, rent brake, rent increases.

    2. 15.2

      There are no oral side agreements.

  16. 16.Annexes and signatures

    1. 16.1

      Annexes: copy of the energy performance certificate, house rules, handover report, Other annexes.

    2. 16.2

      Place of signing, Date of signing. Signature of the landlord. Signature of all tenants.

      Each party signs both copies by hand.

Formalities

  1. There is no official lease form, and no registration is needed.
  2. Make two copies. The landlord and every tenant sign both on paper by hand.
  3. Show the energy performance certificate at the viewing at the latest, and give the tenant a copy after signing.
  4. Within two weeks of the move-in, the landlord confirms the move-in in writing so the tenant can register the address.
  5. Before you set the rent, check whether a Land regulation puts the home in a rent brake area, and read the local rent index.
  6. If the landlord relies on a rent brake exception, the landlord must give the tenant that information in text form before the tenant signs.
  7. If the landlord hired a broker, the landlord pays the broker.

Common mistakes

  • Asking for a deposit above 3 months' net rent, or for the whole deposit before the keys. The excess is void, and the tenant may always pay in 3 instalments.
  • Setting the rent without checking the rent brake and the local rent index. In a designated area the tenant can complain and reclaim rent above the cap.
  • Making the tenant of an unrenovated flat redecorate. The Federal Court of Justice holds such a standard clause void unless the tenant gets fair compensation.
  • Agreeing a fixed term without one of the reasons in § 575, or without stating the reason in writing at signing. The lease then runs for an indefinite term.
  • Charging the tenant for a broker the landlord hired. The tenant can reclaim the fee.
  • Sending the operating cost statement late, or charging unnamed costs. A late statement loses any back-payment. Costs not agreed cannot be passed on.
  • Forgetting the move-in confirmation. The tenant must register within two weeks and needs it from the landlord.
  • Treating a termination without notice for arrears as final. Paying all arrears within two months after an eviction claim is served cures it, once in two years.

Legal basis

Sources

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