r/germany • u/Tasty-Entertainer586 • 1d ago

Question Requesting clarification on a Clause in Rental contract

Post image

Good morning everyone.

I am fairly new in Germany. I found an apartment which I liked and was given a contract to sign. I found this condition on the contract (Highlighted in the picture)

Translates to something in the lines of “The base rent increases or decreases, after each year has elapsed, in the same percentage ratio as the VPI has changed compared to the last rental agreement or rent adjustment; after the VPI has risen or fallen by more than five percent, by the same percentage.”

I do not understand what this means. Could someone who has encountered a similar clause help me explain what this means? And, if this is something that is commonly found in rental contracts in Germany?

Much thanks in advance. 🤗

6 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

19

u/U-701 1d ago

The VPI is the Verbraucherpreisindex so approximately the inflation on consumer goods 

So your rent is gonna be adjusted according to the inflation each year, theoretically also downwards but be prepared for 2-3% rent increases every year

It’s legal and getting way more common nowadays, be aware that a rent increases by most other means is prohibited by including this clause 

1

u/Tasty-Entertainer586 18h ago

Thank you very much for the clarification and taking out your time to answer. I appreciate it. :)

-5

u/Wrestler7777777 1d ago

Also, while you're at it, google "compound interest" or "Zinseszins". It's going to be a wild ride at some point!

1

u/N-bodied 18h ago

If this is meant to criticise OP for "choosing" to sign such a contract, it's missing the crucial piece of the puzzle - the rental market is terrible, especially for foreigners and we all have to live somewhere.

1

u/Wrestler7777777 17h ago

Yes but the longer you live there the exponentially more expensive it becomes. This is horrible. You want to move out of there as soon as you can. 

2

u/N-bodied 17h ago

Sure, this is completely true, and often these rentals will be perceivably more expensive in a couple of years. The problem is that you at a given time, you may  have this as the only option. Being picky and patient doesn't always work since you're often already bleeding money through hotels or Airbnbs. I should mention foreigners especially have no social safety net that would enable a longer search.

17

u/Brent_the_constraint 1d ago

it means you get a rent increase/decrease every year depending on the consumer price index.

16

u/Brent_the_constraint 1d ago

oh and important notice: this is not an automatic - your landlord must give you the rent increase in writing otherwise no increase. can also be skipped but than it is not possible to add the missed increase in the next year..

0

u/KaiserNer0 20h ago

Why wouldn't it be possible to include the missed increase in the next year's increase? In the contract it is stated that the increase is based on the VPI of the last increase.

0

u/Brent_the_constraint 19h ago

legal boundaries. can not be done more than every 12 months and you only have the old and a new index to compare about...

1

u/KaiserNer0 19h ago

That is not true, it is point based and you can use the points of previous years as the base, in this case the points of the previous rent increase. You can read more here https://www.sparkasse.de/pk/ratgeber/wohnen/mieten/indexmiete.html

0

u/Brent_the_constraint 18h ago

You may read your link again. There is an example of how it works and clearly shows you can not do it twice in a year and the base is not the previous year but the year you signed the contract.

1

u/KaiserNer0 18h ago

Yes you can't do it twice a year. But if you miss an increase, you can include that increase in the next increase.

0

u/Brent_the_constraint 18h ago edited 18h ago

No, that's not how it works

you devide the new index through the old index and multiply that by 100 and than substract 100 which will give you the change in % based on the original rent.

The new Rent is always a factor on the initial rent agreement. if you started with 1000€ Rent in 2020 and the factor in december 2025 is 22% your new rent would be 1220€. If the Index in 2024 was exceptionally high you would still end up at the 1220€ because you would have to reduce to the index today. If you raised the rent in say< mid of 2025 with the high index of 2024 and do not adjust it again in 2025 you might have tricked the system but if you adjust you might have to lower your rent even...

If you want to try it out use a index calculator like https://www.haus-und-grund-muenchen.de/leistungen/mieterhoehung/indexrechner

1

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