New data released by the legal service provider Conny, and reported on by the “Handelsblatt”, suggests that private landlords are inflating their rents nearly as drastically as commercial providers.
The analysis was based on a dataset comprising 9,350 cases where Conny had identified a violation of the rent control mechanism (“Mietpreisbremse”). The landlords were categorized into three groups: commercial and other landlords, which made up just under 80 percent; private landlords, representing a solid 19 percent; and non-profit landlords, accounting for only one percent. According to the data, in 26.9 percent of cases, the contractual rent demanded by private landlords was at least double the rent specified by local rental indices.
Conny’s findings show that, on average, private landlords demanded about 338 euros too much per month, compared to about 348 euros demanded by commercial landlords. When annualized, this means tenants paid an average of 4,061 euros too much by private providers, versus 4,178 euros paid to large commercial firms such as Deutsche Wohnen/Vonovia or Heimstaden.
The founder of Conny, Daniel Halmer, challenged the notion that private landlords were violating the rent control rules simply due to ignorance or mistake. Halmer pointed out that in at least 73 percent of cases involving private landlords, a professional property management company was employed. “Property management companies know the legal requirements of the rent control mechanism,” Halmer told the newspaper, arguing that landlords who breach these rules are not doing so accidentally.
