Well-paid job, permanent position: the best conditions for finding a nice apartment? Not in Berlin, says the tenants’ association. Last option: bribery.
Cologne – 20 minutes. The time window for Marco (name changed) and his girlfriend is so short. They are a young couple in their late 20s and live in Berlin. When the alert from the real estate portal causes their smartphones to vibrate, the countdown begins. After 20 minutes, the ads are usually offline again. So everything has to be done very quickly. Who can interrupt their work for five minutes and finish the documents? The goal: an invitation to visit. “There are usually 50 other applicants,” says Marco.
They have been in a relationship for three years, they have been wanting to move in together for almost a year and are looking for an apartment. You are desperate. It just doesn’t work. “For a mere mortal, Berlin is dense,” believes Marco. Your requirements are moderate: three rooms, at least 70 square meters. At first they searched in certain districts, but now they would take anything. At the moment they both live in a 1-room apartment, each 50 square meters plus balcony. He pays 740 euros, she warms up to 800 euros. “By Berlin standards, that’s really cheap,” says Marco.
Index rent: “It’s a gold mine for landlords”
After hardly any new apartments went online over the holidays, the supply is picking up again, says Marco. “We usually apply for one or two apartments a day. In total we were maybe 10 to 15 viewings.” It actually worked once. The hook had the inconspicuous name “Indexmietvertrag”. That means nothing other than: The amount of the rent is linked to the price level. With inflation of 7.9 percent in 2022, this is personal bankruptcy in installments. “It’s complete nonsense to move into an apartment that we won’t be able to afford in a few months,” says Marco.
The thing with the index rental contracts is also driving the German Tenants’ Association (DMB). “Index leases are a huge problem. Almost half of all new contracts are linked to inflation,” says Jutta Hartmann from the DMB. “It’s a goldmine for landlords.” In theory, there are instruments to relax the rental market, for example the rental price brake. But that is all too often legally avoided, says Hartmann, by renovating apartments and then putting them back on the market at a much higher price.
Study by the Tenants’ Association: Germany is short of 700,000 apartments
An experience that Marco and his girlfriend also have. They don’t earn badly and are employed on a permanent basis. Together they have a monthly budget of 5,500 euros. “There is hardly an apartment for less than 1,500 euros – that’s actually our limit.” Apartments that are suitable for the two would be between 1,700 euros and 2,000 euros. “We could just about afford that. But if we pay 2,000 euros in rent, almost 40 percent of our net salaries would be gone. That doesn’t work in the long run.”
It is not foreseeable that the situation will ease up. According to a recent study by the DMB, the housing shortage in Germany is at its highest level in 30 years. According to a study by the Pestel Institute in Hanover and the Working Group for Contemporary Building in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Germany is short of 700,000 apartments. 2023 will be a “very hard year for tenants,” said DMB President Lukas Siebenkotten to the newspapers Funk media group. It’s particularly bad in the capital. “In Berlin, it is de facto impossible for a mere mortal to find an apartment,” says expert Hartmann. “There are still a few small landlords who don’t charge exorbitant rents. Or you get an apartment through contacts.” Which is a new dimension: Even above-average salaries and security do not really increase the chances.
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Bribery for an apartment: “I’ve heard stories where a new iPhone is paid for”
It is forgotten that it is not only rents that are becoming more and more expensive. The search for an apartment is also not exactly cheap if you approach it professionally. Marco and his girlfriend look at “Immobilienscout24”. You will receive push notifications when a suitable apartment is advertised. “If you don’t have a premium subscription, you can forget about it straight away – then you’ll get the apartment displayed much too late or not at all,” says Marco. The portal charges for this service. To do this, Marco and his girlfriend need a new Schufa report every three months. That also costs money. “All in all, looking for an apartment costs 20 euros a month,” says Marco.
It is possible that the real price is often even higher – without this being officially stated. Because: “I assume that a lot is done through bribery,” says Marco. “I’ve heard of stories where, for example, a new iPhone is paid for. We haven’t done it yet, but to be honest: If we can get the apartment for 1,000 euros baksheesh, why not?” He has no scruples, says Marco. “The rental market is a lawless business anyway. I know people who falsify their payslips.”
Time is running out. Because the search for an apartment is increasingly putting a strain on their relationship, says Marco. A penalty that can hardly be weighed up in money. “We often argue about who takes care of the applications,” says Marco. “There is no perspective. We are now very skeptical that we can still move in together in Berlin.”
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