If you’re renting in Berlin, there’s a good chance you’re paying too much. And that’s illegal.

Berlin rents are rising. You know it. We know it. Your landlord definitely knows it. It’s their entire business model.

But here’s the important bit: the rent you agreed to pay, the rent written into your contract and signed by you, could very probably be illegally high. And you could be one stern, lawyer-letterheaded letter away from getting it reduced to legal limits.

Berlin has rent control laws. It’s had them since 2015. The Mietpreisbremse – Berlin’s rent control law – is certainly a mouthful, but the basic idea is pretty simple: for many rental contracts, landlords are generally not allowed to charge more than 10% above the local comparative rent as determined using the Berliner Mietspiegel.

BERLIN LOVES YOU has already helped hundreds of readers reduce their rents using the Mietpreisbremse, with many saving hundreds of euros a month. And the law has now been extended until the end of 2029.

So, how much are you overpaying? And how do you get it back?

Let’s find out.

Click to see if you’re paying too much rent.

Don’t be afraid of your landlord.

Taking on corporate landlords can feel intimidating. German tenancy law is complicated, the process can seem daunting and, for international Berliners especially, dealing with legal matters in another language adds another layer to it.

But you have rights as a tenant. And those rights are protected by law.

Challenging an illegally high rent isn’t asking your landlord for a favour. You’re not trying to renegotiate the deal you signed. You’re enforcing your legal right to pay the rent you’re actually supposed to be paying.

And your landlord can’t simply throw you out because you challenged your rent, no matter what you might have heard. Exercising your rights under the Mietpreisbremse is NOT grounds for cancelling your contract.

How much are you overpaying on rent in Berlin?

The first thing you need to know is how much your apartment should actually cost.

The Berliner Mietspiegel is Berlin’s official rent index, and a new version was published in 2026. It calculates the local comparative rent for your apartment based on things like its size, age, location and features.

Under the Mietpreisbremse, your landlord can generally charge up to 10% above this amount.

So, find your apartment in the Mietspiegel and compare it with what you’re actually paying.

Does it look like you’re overpaying? Well, that’s terrible – but also a good start to getting it lowered. There are, however, important exceptions to the Mietpreisbremse, including certain newer buildings, extensively modernised apartments and cases where a higher previous rent can legally be carried over.

But if none of those exceptions apply, you could have an excellent case for getting your rent lowered.

You’re overpaying. Here’s how to do something about it.

This is where our long-term partner CONNY comes in.

They make the whole thing very easy and clear. Their website has a free online rent check that helps work out whether your rent is above the legal limit and whether you have a case for getting it reduced.

If you do, and you want to take action, CONNY takes it from there. They check the details, deal with your landlord and pursue the rent reduction for you, bringing in their partner lawyers if necessary.

No figuring out German tenancy law yourself. No writing angry letters in questionable German. No taking on a corporate landlord alone.

Find out if you’re paying too much rent.

How to get your rent lowered in Berlin.

So you’ve completed the rent check and you’ve seen how much rent you’re currently overpaying. You’ll probably want to take action. Luckily, you can do this with the click of a button.

The next step is to formally challenge your rent with what’s known as a Rüge. This is the German way of saying: “Hey, the law says you’re charging me too much, and I’m doing something about it.”

Thankfully, you don’t have to write it yourself.

CONNY takes care of it for you. They’ll contact your landlord, deal with any pushback and handle the process from there, bringing in their partner lawyers if necessary.

They’ll keep pursuing the case until, hopefully, you find yourself paying less rent and happy that you’ve exercised your tenants’ rights.

And hundreds of euros a month better off.

How much could you actually save?

Potentially, a lot.

CONNY currently says its Berlin customers save an average of around €300 a month on their rent. That’s €3,600 a year. And depending on your apartment and just how much you’re being overcharged, your savings could be considerably higher.

But lowering your future rent isn’t necessarily the end of it. You may also be entitled to get back some of the rent you’ve already overpaid.

How much you can claim back depends on when your tenancy began and when you challenged the rent, so there’s no one-size-fits-all figure. CONNY will work that out as part of your case.

And once your rent has been successfully reduced, that’s your new rent going forward.

Less rent next month. Less rent the month after that. And less rent for as long as the reduction applies to your tenancy.

So, what’s the catch?

At this point, you’re probably thinking this all sounds a little too good to be true. There’s a free rent check, CONNY takes on your landlord for you and, if they’re successful, you could end up paying hundreds of euros less every month.

So, obviously, they need to get paid.

CONNY works on a success-based model. There are no upfront costs for checking your rent or starting the process. If they’re successful in lowering your rent, CONNY takes a fee from the money they’ve recovered or saved for you.

And if things get more complicated and your case needs to go further, CONNY says it covers the associated lawyer and court costs.

In other words, you don’t need to put a pile of money on the table just to find out whether you can enforce your rights.

You save money. They get paid. Your landlord gets a strongly worded letter. Everyone knows where they stand.

Are there exceptions to the Mietpreisbremse?

Because this is German tenancy law, nothing is ever quite that simple.

The Mietpreisbremse doesn’t apply in the usual way to every apartment. There are exceptions for certain newer buildings, apartments being rented for the first time after comprehensive modernisation and some cases where the previous tenant was already paying a higher rent.

And no, putting in a new kitchen or replacing a few windows doesn’t automatically count as comprehensive modernisation.

There are also rules around what your landlord has to tell you about previous rents and modernisation work if they’re using these exceptions to justify charging you more.

The good news: you don’t have to investigate the entire history of your apartment yourself. CONNY checks whether any of these exceptions actually apply as part of assessing and pursuing your case.

So don’t look at one exception, assume your landlord must be right and give up.

Check.

We’re all in this together.

Berlin isn’t getting any cheaper. But that doesn’t mean we have to sit back and accept every rent increase, every ridiculous new contract and every landlord who assumes we don’t know our rights.

It’s time we got more informed about how this crazy, beautifully fucked-up city works.

The Mietpreisbremse exists for a reason. If your rent is illegally high, you have the right to challenge it. And if hundreds of BERLIN LOVES YOU readers have already done it, you can too.

So check your rent. Find out what you should actually be paying. And if you’re being overcharged, do something about it.

Check if you’re paying too much rent.

Good luck. And fuck rent-gouging corporate cunts.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you use CONNY through one of our links, BERLIN LOVES YOU may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.