Tenancies
A tenancy connects a unit with a tenant, for a term and on agreed conditions. Everything else follows from it: what is charged monthly, what is settled at the end of the year and what is paid back when the tenant leaves.
Conditions – the actual basis of the calculation
It is not the contract as a whole that is calculated but its conditions: base rent, advance on operating costs, advance on heating, parking space and whatever else was agreed. Every condition has a period of its own.
That is why a rent increase as of 1 July needs no change of contract: the old condition ends, the new one begins, and the dues run prorates the month by itself.
Open start, open end
An open-ended tenancy and an open-ended condition are the normal case. Without an end date the condition simply continues – it does not have to be extended every year.
Rent adjustment
How far a rent may rise depends on the kind that was agreed. The module works out the permitted amount and says what stopped it from going higher – that second statement is the more important one, because it is what you give the tenant as a reason.
Germany
| Kind | Basis | What is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Index rent | § 557b BGB | The rent follows the consumer price index. Between two adjustments the rent has to stay unchanged for at least a year. |
| Staggered rent | § 557a BGB | The steps are written into the contract in euro – nothing is calculated, the step that is due is determined. |
| Comparative rent | § 558 BGB | Up to the local comparative rent, with the periods and caps laid down there. |
| Modernisation | § 559 BGB | 8 percent of the costs per year, capped per square metre. |
Austria
| Kind | Basis | What is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Richtwertmietzins | § 16 (2) MRG | Starting from the guide value of the federal state, with additions and deductions. For the equipment categories A, B and C. |
| Kategoriemietzins | § 15a (3) MRG | The category amount per square metre. |
| Angemessener Mietzins | § 16 (1) MRG | Without the restrictions of subsections 2 to 5. |
The result is a calculation, not legal advice
The module calculates according to the provisions named and reports the limiting rule. Whether the preconditions apply in an individual case – whether a rent index may be used, or whether a measure counts as modernisation – it does not decide.
Deposit
§ 551 BGB applies to the deposit, and the module checks both rules of that provision:
The amount may be at most three times the net rent – the rent without the operating costs shown as a flat rate or an advance. That is why the base rent is used and not what the tenant transfers each month.
The payment may be made by the tenant in three equal monthly instalments; the first falls due at the start of the tenancy.
When the tenant leaves
Settling the deposit follows two rules that are often overlooked in practice:
- The interest belongs to the tenant. It is added to the deposit, not kept (§ 551 (3) BGB). A settlement that quietly leaves it out looks plausible and is open to objection all the same.
- Deductions above the deposit do not vanish. They do not reduce the refund below zero but remain an open claim. The deposit covers a claim – it does not cap it.
What steers it
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Units a tenancy refers to | unit |
| Building and property above it | building · property |
| Management contracts | management |
| Monthly charging | dues run |
| Annual settlement of operating costs | service charges |
What can go wrong
A condition is not calculated
It lies outside the period being charged. Check the start and end of the condition – not those of the contract.
The rent increase is lower than expected
The module names the limiting rule. With index rent it is usually the one-year period, with comparative rent the cap, with modernisation the limit per square metre.
The deposit check rejects the agreed amount
Then it is above three times the net rent. A common cause: the total rent including the advances was used.