More Legal Certainty for Tenants: German BGH on Termination

Sept 12, 2025 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The acquisition of rented residential property by a commercial partnership—in this specific case, a GmbH & Co. KG—does not trigger the notice period for termination for personal use or sale, according to the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

Giving notice for personal use after purchase

The defendants in the case at hand had rented an apartment in Munich, Germany, in 2004. In 2012, the building was sold and converted into condos in 2013. The plaintiffs bought the defendants’ unit in 2016 and became owners in March 2017. In September 2022, they terminated the lease for personal use and asked the tenants to leave. The tenants argued this violated the ten-year blocking period and claimed the termination was invalid.

No blocking period for sales to partnerships

In cities with constrained housing markets, such as Munich, a new owner is generally permitted to terminate a lease for personal use no sooner than ten years following the initial sale of a rental apartment converted to condominium ownership.

Section 577a (1a) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB) provides that selling apartments to a partnership or a group of purchasers may trigger the blocking period, regardless of whether the property is converted into condominium ownership or not. This provision applies specifically to a GbR (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts, civil law partnership) or a majority of individual purchasers but does not extend to entities such as a GmbH & Co. KG (limited liability company and limited partnership), as in the case at hand.

Unlike a GbR, a GmbH & Co. KG cannot assert any claim for personal use on behalf of its shareholders. The BGH has determined that tenants are not subject to an equivalent risk in such cases. Consequently, there is no justification for initiating the blocking period for termination with the sale to a GmbH & Co. KG. Instead, the blocking period commences following the transfer of ownership after conversion to condominiums.

BGH VIII ZR 161/24 (6 August 2025)