The Berlin Mietspiegel 2026 and the Mietpreisbremse – what you need to know

May 2026 · by ADEN Immobilien

The Berlin Mietspiegel 2026 (official rent index) has just been published – the reference date for data collection was 1 September 2025. It has once again been recognised as a qualified Mietspiegel under § 558d of the German Civil Code (BGB) by the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing as well as by all six participating tenant and landlord associations.

This is a good opportunity to answer a question we are regularly asked in our day-to-day business: what is actually the difference between the Mietspiegel and the Mietpreisbremse (rent control law)?

Both terms are often mentioned in the same breath. In fact, they are two fundamentally different instruments – with different functions, different legal bases and different consequences for landlords and capital investors.

The Berlin Mietspiegel: What is the local market rent?

The Berlin Mietspiegel answers one single question: what is the comparable local rent for a specific apartment?

It is based on actual rental data from non-price-controlled apartments in multi-family buildings whose rents were newly agreed or adjusted in the last six years. For the Mietspiegel 2026, this data was analysed by the ALP Institute for Housing and Urban Development according to recognised scientific principles.

The comparable local rent is determined by a combination of five characteristics:

• Residential location (simple, medium or good neighbourhood)
• Year of construction / completion date
• Living area
• Fittings (central heating, bathroom, WC inside the apartment)
• Condition (including energy performance)

The result is a rent range with a lower limit, a midpoint and an upper limit – expressed as net cold rent in €/m² per month.

An example:

A fully equipped pre-1918 Altbau apartment of 70–75 m² in a medium-quality area falls, according to the Berlin Mietspiegel 2026, into row 72 of table 9.2:

Within this range, the precise positioning is determined via the so-called Orientierungshilfe für die Spanneneinordnung (positioning guide) – five feature groups (bath/WC, kitchen, apartment, building, surroundings), each with value-increasing and value-decreasing features, push the rent up or down. More on this at mietspiegel.berlin.de – explanations of the rent ranges (German).

When is the Berlin Mietspiegel applied?

• For rent-increase requests in ongoing tenancies (§ 558 BGB)
• As supporting evidence vis-à-vis the tenant
• As evidence before the courts (a qualified Mietspiegel has statutory presumption of accuracy)
• As the reference value for the Mietpreisbremse when re-letting

The Mietpreisbremse: How much can be charged on new lettings?

The Mietpreisbremse (§§ 556d ff. BGB) is a statutory limitation instrument for new lettings in tight housing markets.

The rule is simple: on a new letting, the agreed rent may generally be no more than 10% above the comparable local rent – i.e. above the figure shown by the Mietspiegel for the apartment in question.

For Berlin, the Mietpreisbremse currently applies until the end of 2029.

The key exceptions to the Mietpreisbremse

The Mietpreisbremse does not apply to:

• New buildings first let on or after 1 October 2014
• Comprehensively modernised apartments (where the modernisation costs reach at least one third of new construction costs)
• Already high previous rents (the previous rent may be used as a new lower limit if it was already above the otherwise permitted level and was lawfully agreed)

Especially for renovated Berlin Altbau properties and new-build projects, these exceptions are highly relevant in practice.

The key difference at a glance

Quick clarification: Mietpreisbremse ≠ Mietendeckel

Many Berliners still mix up these two terms today:

• The Mietpreisbremse still allows rent increases but caps new-letting rents at a maximum of 10% above the comparable local rent. It is anchored in federal law and remains in force in Berlin.
• The Berlin Mietendeckel was a state law of the Land of Berlin that sought to freeze and state-regulate rents in full. The Federal Constitutional Court struck it down in April 2021 – because the Land of Berlin had no legislative competence in this field.

What does this mean for property owners and capital investors in Berlin?

For anyone investing or already invested in Berlin existing-stock apartments, both instruments are relevant – but in different ways:

• The Mietspiegel influences the long-term rent envelope achievable in an ongoing tenancy. Rent increases up to the comparable local rent are possible – but only at the legally prescribed rhythm. In Berlin, a capping limit of 15% within three years applies.
• The Mietpreisbremse determines what may be newly agreed on a tenant changeover. Anyone re-letting an apartment with a low existing rent quickly runs into legal limits – unless one of the exceptions applies.

That is why professional investors in Berlin always analyse:

• The current Mietspiegel values and the apartment’s table row
• Trends in the comparable local rent across several Mietspiegel cycles
• Location within a Milieuschutz (social preservation) area, which further restricts modernisation and conversion
• New-letting potential under the Mietpreisbremse
• Applicable exceptions: year of construction, modernisation level, previous rent

Bottom line

The Mietspiegel and the Mietpreisbremse are two sides of the same coin – but they work differently and apply at different points in time.

The Berlin Mietspiegel 2026 is, from now on, the binding basis for rent increases in Berlin and, accordingly, the new reference value for the Mietpreisbremse on new lettings. Anyone who lets or buys apartments in Berlin should know the current table fields for their flats – and understand the room for manoeuvre that the positioning guide opens up.

If you have questions about positioning your apartment in the Mietspiegel or about its valuation in the context of a capital investment, we would be pleased to assist you.

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