GER: Must Landlords Allow Subletting to Refugees?

Sept 22, 2023 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

Does a landlord have to allow a tenant to take in a refugee? The Berlin Regional Court has ruled: Yes, they do. Anyone who wants to take in refugees has a claim against their landlord for permission to sublet.

Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022, a large number of Ukrainian refugees have been coming to Germany. This is why a woman from Berlin wanted to sublet a room in her flat to a woman from the Ukraine. The tenant asked for permission to sublet the room. However, the landlord made this conditional on changing the existing lease to an index-linked one. The tenant then took the landlord to court for failing to give her permission, and the district court found in her favour.

If the tenant has a ‘legitimate interest’ in subletting, then the tenant can demand permission from the landlord to sublet part of the living space to a third party if a legitimate interest in doing so arises for the tenant after entering into the lease under Section 553(1) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB). Such an interest can be assumed if there are reasonable grounds for wanting to let the flat to a third party, according to the case law of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof). This includes very personal interests of the tenant which are of not insignificant importance, provided they are compatible with the legal and societal orders.

The plaintiff argued that the basic humanitarian attitude of a tenant who wants to take in a person who has fled from war is no less worthy of protection than a tenant’s interest in wanting to live with another person out of affection. This was also the view of the regional court, according to which altruistic motives can be sufficient to establish such a legitimate interest.

LG Berlin 65 S 39/23 (6 June 2023)