Pressure on the rental market in Germany’s major cities has been increasing for years. But new figures show that prices are also becoming significantly more expensive in regions where you wouldn’t expect it.
Up 30 percent in one year: Rents for new residents on the outskirts of Berlin have recently risen more than anywhere else in Germany. This is the result of the federal government’s response to a query from the Left Party in the Bundestag. According to the report, Potsdam recorded the largest increase of all districts and independent cities in first-time and re-lettings last year, with an increase of 31.2 percent. The capital itself followed with an increase of 26.7 percent. The figures come from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and reflect the range of offers that apartment seekers encounter when they search online for a rental apartment with a living space of 40 to 100 square meters.
It is striking that the least populated district in Germany also made it into the top 10: in Prignitz in the far northwest of Brandenburg, rents rose by 18 percent from 2022 to 2023. Two districts in the rather sparsely populated Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also have high rent increases: the Baltic Sea district of Vorpommern-Rügen around Stralsund with an increase of almost 20 percent and the Vorpommern-Greifwald district on the Polish border with more than 15 percent.
The Left Party in the Bundestag considers this to be threatening, as many people here have low incomes. “Rents on the Baltic Sea and the German-Polish border are becoming unaffordable,” they criticized.
According to the data, rents also became significantly more expensive after a move in the Upper Palatinate district of Tirschenreuth near the Bavarian-Czech border (plus 23.9 percent), in Kaiserslautern (plus 19.3 percent), in Kaufbeuren (17.4 percent), in the Trier-Saarburg district (15.8 percent) and in the Wunsiedel district in the Fichtelgebirge (plus 15.6 percent).
On average across Germany, however, rents for first-time and re-lettings rose by 7.3 percent last year. While the average apartment cost 10.55 euros per square meter, the same space in Berlin cost more than 16 euros. This makes the capital city the second most expensive city in Germany to rent. According to the BBSR, rents are only higher in Munich, at more than 20 euros per square meter – and, the Left Party emphasized, this despite the fact that Berliners earn significantly less. Bundestag member Caren Lay called for a nationwide rent cap. “The Scholz government must finally muster the courage to protect tenants from massive rent increases,” she demanded.