Modernisierung: tenant rights & rent increase (2026)
Modernisierung: tenant rights & rent increase
Three months' notice, 8% of the cost onto the annual rent, capped at €3/m² over six years.
Where your rent is under €7/m² the cap is €2/m² (§ 559 Abs. 3a BGB). You must normally allow the work (§ 555d BGB), but you can raise a hardship objection: within a deadline.
§ 555d Abs. 3 BGBIn 60 seconds
The landlord must give at least three months' notice of modernisation in text form (§ 555c BGB) and may then pass 8% of the costs attributable to your flat onto the annual rent (§ 559 BGB).
Saved maintenance costs must be deducted (§ 559 Abs. 2 BGB), and so must public subsidies and interest-reduced loans (§ 559a BGB).
The increase is capped at €3/m² over six years, and at €2/m² where your rent is under €7/m² (§ 559 Abs. 3a BGB).
You must normally allow the work (§ 555d BGB); a hardship objection must be made in text form by the end of the month after the notice arrives, or the right can lapse (§ 555d Abs. 3 BGB).
After an announced increase you have a special right to terminate (§ 561 BGB) if you were going to move anyway.
What the law says
The tenant must notify the landlord of circumstances amounting to hardship by the end of the month following receipt of the modernisation notice. The notification requires text form. After that period, hardship grounds are considered only where the tenant was prevented without fault and makes good without delay. Working translation; the German original is the binding text.
A worked example
A flat modernised at a cost of €12,000, of which €2,000 was maintenance saved, with no subsidies.
Always check that the maintenance saved was deducted, the commonest error at your expense. Then hold the result against the cap.
How much your rent can rise over six years
| Your rent before the increase | Maximum increase over 6 years |
|---|---|
| €7/m² or more | €3/m² |
| under €7/m² | €2/m² |
The same process from the landlord's side is in Increasing rent after modernisation.
What it means for each side
- Check that maintenance saved and subsidies were deducted.
- Raise any hardship objection in text form, in time.
- Work out the cap: €3/m² over six years, €2/m² where the rent is low.
- Consider the special right to terminate if you were moving anyway (§ 561 BGB).
- Give at least three months' notice in text form.
- Deduct maintenance saved and subsidies.
- Set out the calculation transparently in the declaration.
- Check the cap before applying the 8% formula.
Common mistakes
The commonest error at your expense.
It must be in text form by the end of the month after the notice arrives (§ 555d Abs. 3 BGB).
The 8% formula alone does not tell you what you pay, the ceiling takes precedence.
The higher rent is owed only from the start of the third month after the declaration arrives.
What to do next
Check the notice: text form, three months ahead, kind, scope, duration and the expected increase.
Raise a hardship objection, if you have one, in text form by the end of the following month.
After the declaration, recalculate: were maintenance and subsidies deducted, is the cap observed?
Consider whether the special right to terminate under § 561 BGB is worth using.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to allow the Modernisierung?
As a rule, yes. You have a Duldungspflicht (obligation to allow the work) for a properly announced Modernisierung (§ 555d Abs. 1 BGB). The deadline only starts running once the Modernisierungsankündigung meets the requirements of § 555c BGB. You may refuse if the work would cause an unjustifiable hardship for you, your family or other household members (Härteeinwand, § 555d Abs. 2 BGB). You must raise the Härteeinwand in writing by the end of the month following receipt of the announcement.
How much can the rent rise after a Modernisierung?
The landlord may add 8 % of the modernisation costs attributable to your flat to the annual rent (Modernisierungsumlage, § 559 Abs. 1 BGB). First, saved maintenance costs and public subsidies must be deducted (§ 559 Abs. 2, § 559a BGB). Where several flats are involved, only the share attributable to your flat counts.
What is the Kappungsgrenze for a Modernisierung?
The Modernisierungsumlage may raise your monthly rent by no more than 3 €/m² over six years (§ 559 Abs. 3a BGB). If your rent was below 7 €/m² before the increase, a lower cap of 2 €/m² applies. If the 8 % formula produces more, the increase is reduced to this capped amount.
Can I move out after a Modernisierungsmieterhöhung?
Yes. When the landlord asserts a Modernisierungsmieterhöhung (modernisation rent increase) under § 559 BGB, you have a Sonderkündigungsrecht (§ 561 BGB). You can terminate up to the end of the second month after receipt of the increase notice; the tenancy then ends at the close of the month after next, and you do not have to pay the higher rent.
What must the Modernisierungsankündigung contain?
It must reach you in writing at least three months before the work begins (§ 555c BGB) and state the type, expected scope, expected start and duration of the work, the rent increase to be expected, and the likely future operating costs. It should also point you to the form and deadline for the Härteeinwand. If anything is missing, the deadline for your Duldung (duty to allow the work) does not start.
This page gives general information as at the date shown. It does not replace legal advice on an individual case.