Hausgeld for a German apartment: advances, reserve, and what a tenant can pay
Hausgeld on a German apartment is the advance the owners vote for one calendar year. It is not the rent, and it is not a single contractor invoice. The manager prepares an annual budget. The owners vote the advances for the community’s costs and for the reserves.
What sits inside that advance decides later which share a tenant can be asked to pay. The legal reading of a file stays with a lawyer and a tax adviser. Sweet Home Berlin puts the line into the purchase check before a listing shows only the monthly mortgage.
Which part of Hausgeld a tenant can be charged
The monthly Hausgeld mixes two pots the statute keeps apart. Owners bear the community’s costs in proportion to their ownership shares, unless a resolution sets a different split. That rule is section 16 of the German Condominium Act (WEG).
The tenant relationship follows a different statute. A lease can agree that the tenant bears operating costs. Section 556 of the Civil Code (BGB) points to the Operating Costs Ordinance for that list. Under section 1(2) of the Operating Costs Ordinance (BetrKV), management costs and maintenance and repair costs are not operating costs.
The reserve, which the budget funds with advances, exists to keep the building. The owner pays that part of the Hausgeld to the community. It is not an operating-cost item the tenant pays through the service-charge statement. Only the share the lease agrees as operating costs, within the ordinance, can be passed on.
Annual budget and the year-end account
Section 28 WEG sets the sequence. The manager draws up a budget for the calendar year, with expected income and expenses. The owners vote the advances. After the year they vote extra contributions or an adjustment of the advances, on the basis of the annual account. The manager also prepares a statement of assets that includes the reserve balance.
A purchase therefore does not turn on one monthly figure in an advert. It turns on the budget, the latest annual account, the reserve balance, and the minutes in which works are already decided. The same check sits in the Berlin apartment purchase checklist.
Hausgeld in the purchase maths
Hausgeld continues when the apartment is empty. It belongs in the monthly carrying cost beside the mortgage, not only in the tenant’s service charges. The one-off costs of the purchase itself, transfer tax, notary, and land register, are a different item. Those are covered in the cost of buying property in Berlin.
A letting plan uses cold rent and the costs that stay with the owner. The reserve and the non-recoverable share of Hausgeld stay with the owner. The formula is in how to calculate rental yield in Berlin. This guide does not quote an average Hausgeld for Berlin. The range depends on the building, the reserve, and the works already voted.
FAQ
What is Hausgeld on an apartment?
The advance the owners vote for the calendar year. It covers expected community costs and the payment into the reserve. When it falls due follows the resolution.
Can the whole Hausgeld be charged to a tenant?
No. Only the share the lease agrees as operating costs, and that the Operating Costs Ordinance allows. Management costs, maintenance, and the reserve are not in that list. The owner still pays the full Hausgeld to the community.
Does the owner pay Hausgeld if the apartment is vacant?
Yes. The duty to the community follows ownership, not whether a tenant lives there.
Does this replace legal or tax advice?
No. The lease, the budget, and the owners’ resolutions decide the individual file.
Next step with Sweet Home Berlin
When an apartment is on the shortlist, we read the budget, the reserve, and the minutes against price and use, before the mortgage payment is the only number in the room.