Rent increase laws brandenburg, germany

The right to increase rent is strictly regulated in German tenancy law. In Brandenburg, there are also state-specific ordinances (the Mietpreisbegrenzungsverordnung and Kappungsgrenzenverordnung) that landlords must mandatorily comply with in certain regions.

The Local Comparative Rent (Ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete)

A rent increase during an ongoing tenancy is generally only possible up to the local comparative rent (§ 558 BGB). Landlords have various tools available to justify the rent increase:

• A (qualified) rent index (Mietspiegel) of the city or municipality (e.g., in Potsdam or Cottbus).
• An expert opinion from an officially appointed and sworn appraiser.
• The identification of at least three comparable apartments with corresponding rents.

The rent must have remained unchanged for 15 months by the time the increase is set to take effect. The landlord can submit the formally correct request for an increase no earlier than one year after the last increase (known as the Jahressperrfrist or one-year blocking period).

The Rent Increase Cap (Kappungsgrenze) in Brandenburg

In addition to the local comparative rent, the rent increase cap (Kappungsgrenze) applies. It limits the maximum percentage by which the rent can increase within a three-year period.

• Regular Cap (Federal Law): Maximum 20 percent within three years.
• Lowered Cap (Brandenburg): In municipalities with a tight housing market, a lowered limit of 15 percent within three years applies.

The areas affected by the lowered cap currently include (as of 2026) many municipalities in the Berlin metropolitan area, such as Ahrensfelde, Bernau bei Berlin, Falkensee, Potsdam, and Schönefeld. Landlords must accurately verify whether their property is located in one of these areas when planning regular rent increases.

The Rent Control (Mietpreisbremse) for New Leases

In the same municipalities with a tight housing market, the so-called rent control mechanism (Mietpreisbremse) applies to new lease agreements. Under this rule, the starting rent may not exceed 10 percent above the local comparative rent.

Exceptions to Rent Control:

• New construction: Apartments that were first used and rented out after October 1, 2014.
• full modernization: If the apartment was comprehensively modernized before being re-rented (investment costs amount to at least one-third of a comparable new build).
• Previous rent: If the rent legitimately owed by the previous tenant was already higher than the cap allows, this level can be maintained (grandfathering) but not further increased.

Rent Increases After Modernization

If the landlord has implemented energetic or living value-improving measures, § 559 BGB applies. According to this, the annual rent can be increased by 8 percent of the modernization costs spent on the apartment.

A cap also applies here: The rent may not increase by more than €3 per square meter within six years (or only by €2 per square meter if the rent prior to modernization was below €7/sqm).

Important: The landlord must announce the planned modernization and the anticipated rent increase to the tenant in text form at least three months before construction begins.

Index and Stepped Rents

Index or stepped rents can also be agreed upon in the lease, causing the rent to increase automatically.

• Stepped Rent (Staffelmiete): The rent increases at fixed dates (at least 1 year apart) by a specific euro amount. During the term, further increases up to the local comparative rent are excluded. The rent control mechanism (Mietpreisbremse) applies here to each individual step at the time it becomes due.
• Index Rent (Indexmiete): The rent is linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) determined by the Federal Statistical Office. The landlord must declare the increase in text form and calculate the index change. With index rent, the rent control mechanism only applies to the initial starting rent, not to the subsequent index-based increases.

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