Buying a flat that's already let: you buy the tenant too

4 min read · Updated 2 November 2026 · Written for English speakers dealing with money in Germany

Buying a flat that's already let

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A sale doesn't end a lease. Buy a flat that's let and you buy its tenant too: the rent, the terms and the deposit, as they stand.

On this page

  1. The lease comes with the flat
  2. A low rent stays low, for a while
  3. Read the tenancy before you buy
  4. Buying it: as for a home

  1. The lease comes with the flat

    You step into the lease as it stands: its rent, its terms and the deposit (§§ 566, 566a BGB). The sale gives no reason to change it or end it.

    From when. The lease once you're registered; the rent usually from the handover.

    The lease passes to you once you're registered as owner (§ 566 BGB); the purchase contract usually settles the rent between you and the seller from the handover. Tell the tenant together with the seller, with your account for the rent.

    The deposit. It passes to you, and so does repaying it.

    Make sure it comes to you. If you don't repay it when the tenancy ends, the seller still has to (§ 566a BGB).

  2. A low rent stays low, for a while

    You can't raise the rent just because you've bought. Rises go towards the local comparative rent, after 15 months unchanged, and at most 20 % in three years, 15 % where the state has named the area for this cap (§ 558 BGB). So price a let flat on the rent it actually brings.

    The rent multiple. The price against a year's rent.

    Run the flat's real rent through the numbers.

  3. Read the tenancy before you buy

    Ask the seller for these before you commit, not after.

    Papers about the tenancy 7
    • The lease (Mietvertrag), with every addendum. The rent, how it may rise, and the notice terms: it passes to you as it stands (§ 566 BGB).
    • The rent account. Whether the rent has been paid in full and on time.
    • The deposit (Kaution). How much, and where it's kept: it passes to you with the flat (§ 566a BGB).
    • Notices and disputes. Any notice given or received, a rent cut for a defect, a court case.
    • Defects the tenant has reported. A defect that limits their use lets them pay less until it's fixed (§ 536 BGB): ask what's open, and what the seller has promised to repair.
    • The last rent rise. When, and by how much: rises are capped over three years (§ 558 BGB).
    • The last service-charge statements. Sent to the tenant on time: a late one can't claim more from them (§ 556 BGB).

  4. Buying it: as for a home

    Viewing it, agreeing with the seller, the loan's terms and the notary work as they do for a home: viewing and papers, agreeing, the loan and the notary. What differs for a flat to let: lenders count only part of the rent and often want more of your own money (the buy-to-let calculator), and the lease passes to you once you're registered as owner.

Primary sources checked on 26 October 2026: the statutes and official pages linked above.

Keep reading on this

Buy-to-Let in Germany: Net Yield and Tax

Gross and net yield, Hausgeld and the maintenance reserve, vacancy and management, tax on rent and depreciation (AfA), the ten-year rule, the Mietpreisbremse, a flat that's let, empty or new, financing a rental versus a home, and your year as a landlord.

Old or New Rental Flat: Tax and Rent Caps

Depreciation on an existing flat and a new build, the special allowance, renovations in the first three years, your flat both ways, and a rent check under the rent brake.

Everything above is general. For advice on your own situation, you can ask for an English-speaking financing expert for a rental property. The bank pays them a commission when you take out a loan. You pay us nothing. If you go ahead with them, they may pay us a referral fee. What they pay never decides who your request goes to.

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rental investments turn on details — the price, the achievable rent, any lease that comes with the flat, and your own tax position, and none of that can be judged from an article. A licensed professional who knows your situation can tell you what applies to you.