rent increase
noun · Mieterhöhung
A German residential landlord cannot raise the rent by giving notice of a new figure. He must ask the tenant to consent to an increase up to the local reference rent, § 558 BGB, justify it with recognised evidence, and observe both a waiting period and a ceiling on how far the rent may rise within three years.
Which translation, when
Why
Rent increase translates as Mieterhöhung, and the German residential procedure differs from the English picture in one decisive respect: the landlord cannot simply announce a new rent. Under § 558 BGB he demands the tenant’s consent to an increase up to the ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete, the rent usually paid in the municipality for comparable dwellings, and the demand must be made in text form and justified, in practice by reference to a Mietspiegel, the local rent index, to comparable flats or to an expert opinion. If the tenant agrees, the higher rent is owed from the agreed date; if he does not, the landlord’s only route is an action for consent, so the increase is a claim rather than a unilateral act. Two brakes limit the procedure. The rent must have stood unchanged for a statutory waiting period before the demand, and a Kappungsgrenze caps how far it may rise within three years even where the local reference rent would justify more, with a stricter ceiling in areas the Länder have designated as having a strained housing market. The precise figures and the designation practice change with legislation, so a translation should not carry numbers over from an older source without checking the current text. Alongside this main route German law knows others that a translation must not confuse with it: an increase after modernisation, where a share of the costs is added to the annual rent under its own provisions; the Staffelmiete and the Indexmiete, agreed in the contract and replacing the consent procedure entirely; and, on the letting of a new tenancy in designated areas, the Mietpreisbremse limiting what may be agreed in the first place.
Typical mistakes
- The increase under § 558 BGB requires the tenant’s consent and, failing that, an action, so wording that lets the landlord declare a new rent misdescribes the procedure.
- A waiting period and a Kappungsgrenze limit the increase independently of the local reference rent, so quoting only the reference figure overstates what may be charged.
- Modernisation increases, Staffelmiete, Indexmiete and the Mietpreisbremse are separate regimes, so merging them with the § 558 route confuses which rules apply.
What matters
Explaining a German rent increase letter to a tenant: the note should identify it as a Zustimmungsverlangen under § 558 BGB, check the justification offered, and verify the current waiting period and ceiling against the statute rather than from memory.
What the machine misses
A machine version of rent increase produces Mietsteigerung or Mieterhöhungsanzeige, suggesting a unilateral announcement, while § 558 BGB requires a justified demand for the tenant’s consent up to the local reference rent, backed by an action if consent is refused; the wrong word turns a claim that may have to be litigated into a notice.
Examples
| a rent increase | eine Mieterhöhung |
| the local reference rent | die ortsübliche Vergleichsmiete |
| the landlord requests the tenant’s consent | der Vermieter verlangt die Zustimmung des Mieters |
| the local rent index | der Mietspiegel |