Rent condominium to holiday guests

Properties that were built for residential purposes are subject to a special purpose limitation. This consists in the fact that the real estate can only be used for residential purposes. The owner can use the property himself or rent it out to a tenant for residential purposes. As the owner of a Condominium you also have to consider the needs of your neighbors.

Misappropriation regulations protect the housing market

• If you rent out your apartment to tourists or holidaymakers, it is no longer available to the housing market. Tenants are left behind, especially in larger cities. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and some other cities in Bavaria therefore have one Misappropriation Ordinance enact. It stipulates that property used for residential purposes may not be rented to holiday guests. In some cases, transition periods are granted for owners renting out to tourists.
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• If you disregard such a misappropriation regulation, you risk a heavy fine. In addition, you are usually obliged to inform the municipality if you want to use your apartment for tourism.

Your declaration of division can set limits

• As an apartment owner, you should read the declaration of division. There it may be stipulated that you may only use your apartment for residential purposes. Then you can live in it yourself. Rental for holiday purposes is excluded. As a tenant, you may only sublet if the subtenant moves in permanently. You also need the landlord's consent for this. Holiday guests are not permitted sub-tenants.
• The declaration of division can also contain a ban on commercial use. However, this prohibition remains ineffective, as, according to a decision by the Federal Court of Justice, renting out a condominium as a holiday home is permitted (Vz. V ZR 72/09). The prerequisite is, of course, that there is no misappropriation ordinance in your municipality and that the declaration of division does not limit the rental to residential purposes. You then act as part of your private asset management and are not commercially active. However, a commercial activity arises when you rent out several condominiums to holiday guests.


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Your neighbors have a right to be considerate

As long as the misappropriation regulation and the declaration of division do not prevent the rental to holiday guests, your neighbors can still complain. If it can be proven that the holiday guests are causing specific impairments, you are violating the building law requirement of consideration.

• The noise caused by the holiday guests, reckless behavior, loud partying or the particular pollution of the stairwell can be considered as impairments. The impairments must go beyond the normal range (Administrative Court Berlin Az. VG 13 L 274/139).
• If you live in the apartment yourself as a tenant, you may not sublet an unused room to holiday guests. The law only grants you the right to sublet if you sublet on a permanent basis. Only then is a legitimate interest recognized.

Renting out to vacationers can be financially more lucrative than renting out to a single tenant for residential purposes. However, you should not underestimate the organizational effort involved. You can assess the behavior of a tenant after a certain period of time. But you can hardly estimate how a holiday guest who is unknown to you and who moves out after a short time will behave. In extreme cases, a rioting tourist leaves your apartment in a state that is one renovation makes indispensable. Cases of this kind are far from rare!