Are you looking for a new apartment?
Finding a flat in the right location that matches your ideas, needs and finally agrees with your purse is difficult enough.
But as soon as you open the newspaper, you'll realize that on top you need to find your way through a jungle of abbreviations that even many of the locals don’t understand.
If you search online there may be less abbreviations - but the terms may be unfamiliar anyway.
Don't be put off!
With the list below, you’re fully equipped to tackle the task and take advantage ofbeing able to look up in both, online and offline advertisements!
In this article you will find:
Useful tips for renting an apartment or a house in Germany.
A list with all the terms and abbreviations that you might come across when looking for a place to live.
Did you know:
Most Germans rent their apartment:
about 57.9% of the households live in rented apartments or houses –
that is more than in any other country of the EU.
What you should know when you're looking for an apartment in Germany
How do I know the number of rooms?
German apartments do not only count the bedrooms but the total number of rooms, including living room and dining room.
That means:
A 3-bedroom-apartment could equal a 5-Zi-Whg. = 5 Zimmer-Wohnung (5-rooms-apartment) in Germany.
Bring your own kitchen!
When you rent an apartment in Germany, you will usually get the rooms with bare walls.
That means there will usually be no built-in kitchen (Einbauküche), internal window coverings, lamps, built-in wardrobes ecc.
If the previous tenant wants to leave something behind, you might be asked to buy it from him by paying “Abstand”.
However, if you bought everything new and the next tenant doesn’t want it, you might be required to take it all out again.
It really depends on the landlord, on the following tenant and on the situation on the rental market.
Lüften, lüften, lüften … (airing, airing, airing ...)
Once you finally sign your rental contract, there will probably be a paragraph about “Regelmäßiges Lüften" – regularly airing out.
You might even be provided with a leaflet telling you the right way and number of times per day to do it.
The reason is that most buildings in Germany are built pretty air-tight and have no ventilation except the windows and doors. Therefore, if you open the windows regularly, you will have better air-quality in your house, increase heating efficiency (i.e., save money) and – most important – prevent mold.
Single glazing or double glazing?
As a standard, there is double glazing (doppelt verglast) in Germany. It will only be mentioned if the windows are triple glazing (dreifach verglast)
Legal rules favour the tenant.
German tenancy law is very much in favour of the tenant.
If the contract isn’t clear, then it will usually be your advantage.
You’re safe from sudden evictions:
Every tenant is protected by the legal notice of contract termination of at least 3 months. The longer you reside in your apartment, the longer the period becomes.
In addition, the landlord can’t cancel your rental contract (Mietvertrag ) without a legally valid reason (berechtigtes Interesse).
However, the tenant can cancel an open-ended contract (unbefristeter Mietvertrag) at any time – you must only give the landlord 3 months notice.
Abbreviations for renting an apartment in Germany
Abst. - Abstand - payment for furniture / fittings left by previous tenant
AB - Altbau - old building, in which rooms typically have parquet floors and high ceilings with decorative mouldings.
App. - Appartment - apartment
Ausst. - Austtattung - furnishing
befr. - befristed - only available for a limited period of time
Bj. - Baujahr - year of construction
Bk - Betriebskosten - running costs
Blk. - Balkon - balcony
Bung. - Bungalow - bungalow
bzb. - beziehbar – ready for occupation
DG - Dachgeschoss - attic floor, sometimes with normal ceilings, sometimes with arched ceilings.
DH - Doppelhaus - pair of semi-detached houses
DHH - Doppelhaushälfte – semi-detached house
Do.-Gge. - Doppelgarage – double garage
DT - Dachterrasse - roof-terrace
EAia - Energieausweis im Auftrag - energy certificate has been commissioned
EA-B - Energieausweis Bedarf - energy certificate if needed
EA-V - Energieausweis Verbrauch - energy certificate consumption
EBK - Einbauküche - fitted kitchen.
EG - Erdgeschoss ground floor, sometimes at street level, sometimes elevated above street level
EFH - Einfamilienhaus - house
Einl.-Whg. - Einliegerwohnung – granny flat
Etg. - Etage - floor
ETW - Etagenwohnung - apartment covering an entire floor
FBH - Fußbodenheizung – underfloor heating
Gge. - Garage - garage
Grdst. - Grundstück - plot (of land), site
Gart. - Garten - garden
HK Heizkosten heating costs
Hs - Haus - house
HT - Haustier – pet
HZ - Heizung - heating
Komf. - Komfort - comfort
KM - Kaltmiete - literally: "cold rent", or the base monthly rent without building utility costs or heating. In addition you will need to pay 'Nebenkosten' or 'Umlagen'.
KP - Kaufpreis - purchase price
Kt. - Kaution - security deposit, typically three times the -> 'Kaltmiete'.
Lg. - Lage - location
MFH - Mehrfamilienhaus - large house with several apartments
MM - Monatsmiete - month’s rent
möbl. - möbliert - furnished
m² - Quadratmeter - square meter(s)
Mtl. - Monatlich - monthly
NB - Neubau - new building, in which rooms typically have laminate floors and low ceilings.
Nfl. - Nutzfläche – usable floor space
NK - Nebenkosten - additional costs, e.g. water, heating, property tax, building utility costs ... While 'Warmmiete' should remain stable the 'Nebenkosten' can be subject to change and may increase.
NR - Nichtraucher - non-smoker
OG - Obergeschoss - upper storey
prov.-frei - Provisionsfrei - free of commission
ren. - renoviert - renovated, or a complete renovation.
RH - Reihenhaus - terraced house
San. - saniert - refurbished, or a partial renovation.
Terr. - Terrasse - terrace
TG - Tiefgarage - underground car park
Uml. - Umlagen - a different word for -> Nebenkosten
unbefr. - unbefristet - available with no limitation of the time-period
VB - Verhandlungsbasis – basis for negotiation
WE Wohneinheit - accommodation unit
Wfl. - Wohnfläche - living area, or the total size of the entire place in square meters
WG - Wohngemeinschaft - flat share
Whg. - Wohnung - apartment
WM - Warmmiete - warm rent, or the base monthly rent plus heating
Zi. - Zimmer – room(s)
ZH - Zentralheizung - central heating
With this list you will be perfectly eqipped for your house hunt!
I wish you good luck! - Ich wünsche dir viel Glück!
Have you rented a property in Germany? Share your experiences in the comments below to help other Expats and newcomers to Germany!
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