Tenant protection

Under rent control is understood within the Housing Tenancy contract not waivable legal provisions to protect the tenant inside and outside the Civil Code (BGB). It is a form of consumer protection for privately financed apartments in addition to the special regulations on social housing and general prohibitions on discrimination such as Section 2 (1) No. 8 AGG .

Tenant protection regulations can also be contractually agreed. In the context of the privatization of municipal housing stocks , social charter can be agreed which give tenants tenant protection that goes far beyond the statutory provisions.

Legal regulation

Tenant protection rights are codified in contract law or specifically in the tenancy law of the respective states.

See the country articles

The object of tenant protection is in particular

Restrictions on the landlord's right of termination
Restrictions on termination of a lease for other reasons
Provisions on rent
Social clauses , the right of entry for members of the household in the event of the tenant's death ( Section 563 BGB) or grandfathering when the rental property is sold ( Section 566 BGB)
as well as the forced management of living space in times of war and emergency.

Constitutional grounds

In fulfilling the mandate given to it in Article 14.1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law to determine the content and limitations of property , the legislature is faced with the task of realizing the social model, the normative elements of which emerge on the one hand from the constitutional recognition of private property Article 14.1 sentence 1 of the Basic Law and on the other hand from the binding guideline of Article 14.2 of the Basic Law. It is the task of the legislature to implement this requirement within the framework of private law standardizations according to Article 14.1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law. In doing so, it must take into account both elements of the dialectical relationship laid down in the Basic Law of constitutionally guaranteed freedom and the requirement of a socially just property system and bring the interests of all parties involved that are worthy of protection into a fair balance and a balanced relationship. The legislator must take into account the interests of the tenant and the landlord in the same way when drafting mandatory tenancy law provisions. Of course, this does not mean that they have to have the same weight at all times and in every context. A one-sided preference or disadvantage is not in line with the constitutional ideas of socially bound private property.

Social importance

In order to avoid homelessness and preserve social peace , tenant protection follows the requirement of consideration for the interests of the individual legal partner who is dependent on the use of the property and takes into account "the paramount importance of the apartment as the center of human existence".

Economic aspects

In particular, the abolition of tax advantages in the non-profit housing sector on January 1, 1990 and the de facto abolition of social housing with the law reforming housing law of September 13, 2001, led to the extensive privatization of the housing market. As a result, around 3.3 million rent-regulated apartments came onto the open market.

The rental housing market is increasingly determined by an imbalance between supply and demand and not only makes it difficult for low-income earners to access the market. To remedy the housing shortage , among other things, a reintroduction of non-profit housing is being discussed.

An evaluation of the rent brake shows that the rent increase in the apartments exempted from the rent brake (first use after October 1, 2014 or first rental after fundamental renovation) has accelerated due to the rent brake.

The percentage limitation of the modernization levy does not achieve the alleged goal of limiting the rent increase, but on the contrary increases the burden on the tenant due to higher rents.

literature

German Tenants' Association: Termination & Tenant Protection , DMB-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-933091-65-9
Swiss Tenants' Association : Lachat et al .: Tenancy Law for Practice , self-published, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-033-01846-4