Both landlords and tenants' associations agreed
Whoever is looking for an apartment in Frankfurt is not infrequently driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown by countless competitors, but of course also by the extremely high rents. But are these high rents really justified? And when are significant rent increases allowed? A little more transparency and clarity on this topic, which is actually important for all Frankfurt residents, is promised by the 2018 rent index, which was put into effect retroactively to June 1 by the magistrate of the city of Frankfurt am Main on Friday, June 15. This was after the approval by the Association of the Southwest German Housing Industry and three tenants associations both representatives of tenants associations and owners associations. Abstained had the fourth tenant association as well as the representatives of house & reason Frankfurt am Main and house & reason Bergen-Enkheim. This was announced by the head of the planning department, Mike Josef, together with Axel Tausendpfund from the Association of the Southwest German Housing Industry and Rolf Janßen from the DMB Tenants' Protection Association Frankfurt am Main.
"I would like to thank the representatives of both the tenants' and landlords' associations for working together so constructively to get a new rent index off the ground, which should represent the actual market situation as accurately as possible," said Head of Planning Mike Josef. "I would like to thank the commissioned institutes IWU from Darmstadt and IFAK from Taunusstein for their dedicated work and, of course, especially all tenants and landlords who participated in the survey and without whom we would not have been able to have a rent index drawn up."
Rolf Janßen said, "The rent index makes it possible to determine the local rent for almost all privately financed apartments in Frankfurt. It thus provides market transparency and information as to whether a rent increase is permissible or impermissible." Axel Tausendpfund added: "The 2018 rent index has been prepared using a transparent and recognised scientific procedure. In accordance with the legal requirements, it does not reflect the current market rents, but the rents that have been changed or agreed in the last four years. With this in mind, the rent increases in the new rent index are in line with the normal range for highly prosperous markets."
Compared to the 2014 Mietspiegel, the average net cold rent per square meter of living space in Frankfurt has risen from €8.66 to €9.36 now - an increase of 8.1 percent for four years, or about 2 percent annually. The increase from 2010 to 2014 was 11.3 percent.
In this regard, Councillor Josef explains, "With all the pressure on the rental market, it is pleasing that the increase is lower in percentage terms than four years ago. This notwithstanding, it remains our responsibility to designate more building land."
In contrast to its predecessor, there is a discount for very basic locations in the 2018 rent index. The rest of the system of residential locations is the same as in the last rent index. However, this time no price influence of particularly noisy streets could be proven, so that the surcharges for upscale or very good residential locations also apply here.
Price influences of a good energetic equipment could also not be proven. New additions are, for example, the features of barrier-free access to the apartment or underfloor heating.
The new Frankfurt rent index is based on over 3,500 interviews with tenant households, which are representative of all Frankfurt rental households, and around 500 written statements from landlords. The data collected was extensively checked and evaluated. In the process of evaluation, the IWU used scientifically recognised statistical methods to develop a rent index model that indicates the local rent for different types of dwelling with different equipment characteristics.
The Frankfurt rent index is thus a qualified rent index that helps tenants and landlords alike. It serves to avoid disputes about the appropriate rent. It provides official information on the general rent structure in Frankfurt am Main. The rent index is used to justify a request for an increase in order to adjust to the local comparative rent and to check the appropriateness of rents paid - also in connection with the so-called rent brake.
The new rent index 2018 will soon be available at the Office of Housing and through the book and magazine trade for three euros. Other sources of supply are the Tourist Information Römerberg and the citizens' offices as well as the tenants' and landlords' associations represented in the rent index commission
