Give notice on a flat-share room in Germany: periods and model letter

Look at the contract first

In a flat share there are three common set-ups: everyone is named in the joint main tenancy, you live as a subtenant (Untermiete) with a Hauptmieter (main tenant), or you have your own contract with the landlord. With subletting, you give notice to the main tenant; with an individual contract, to the landlord. With a joint contract, you cannot give notice alone. The models are explained in the flat-share tenancy agreement. If there is no written contract, you still have one as soon as you live there for rent (§ 535 BGB). The same periods then apply.

The normal period: just under three months

For an open-ended contract, if your notice arrives by the third working day of a month at the latest, the tenancy ends at the end of the month after next (§ 573c para. 1 BGB). Give notice by the third working day in March, for example, and you are out at the end of May. For you as a tenant, the period stays the same however long you have lived there. It only gets longer for the landlord’s side. The contract may provide shorter periods in your favour, but not longer ones (§ 573c para. 4 BGB).

Furnished room with the main tenant: by the 15th

If the main tenant lives in the flat and has furnished your room for the most part, a short period applies: notice by the 15th of a month to take effect at the end of the same month (§ 573c para. 3 BGB). That does not apply if you live there permanently with family or a partner (§ 549 para. 2 no. 2 BGB). The short period applies to both sides. The main tenant can then give you notice the same way, more on that in asking a flatmate to leave.

Joint main tenancy: you cannot do it alone

If everyone is on the contract, only the whole flat share together can give notice. Notice from you alone is invalid. If you want out and the others stay, you need an agreement with the landlord and all co-tenants that you are released from the contract. Usually someone new joins the contract for that. Raise it early, because until you agree, you remain liable for the whole rent.

Fixed term, no-notice clause and special termination

If the contract has a fixed term or notice is excluded for a certain time, it usually ends only on the agreed date. Whether such a clause is valid is for advice to clarify. There is one way out: if the landlord refuses you permission to sublet the room, you may give extraordinary notice with the statutory period, unless there is an important reason relating to the subtenant that speaks against it (§ 540 para. 1 BGB). If you are away for only a few months, you can sublet the room instead of giving notice.

Replacement tenant: no right, but often the fastest way

There is no general right to leave the contract early by finding a replacement tenant (Nachmieter). If the contract has a replacement-tenant clause, it applies. In practice, landlords and main tenants often agree if you bring a suitable person. Help the flat share with advertising and choosing, ideally with a joint WG-Casting (an informal interview with applicants). Put any agreement on an earlier move-out in writing.

What the notice must look like

Notice on a home has to be in writing, meaning on paper with a handwritten signature (§ 568 para. 1 BGB). Email, messenger or a photo of the letter are not enough. The period only starts once the notice is received. Hand it over in person in front of a witness, or send it by Einwurf-Einschreiben (registered post with proof of delivery to the letterbox), and allow a few days of buffer before the third working day or the 15th. As a tenant, you do not have to give a reason.

Model: notice on a flat-share room

• Sender: your name and your address in the flat share
• Recipient: the main tenant if you sublet, otherwise the landlord, with address
• Date: place and day of the letter
• Subject: notice of the tenancy for the room in the flat at …
• Text: “I hereby give notice to terminate the tenancy of the room … with effect from …, or failing that, on the next permissible date.”
• Request: confirmation of the notice, a date for the handover and repayment of the deposit to the account …
• Signature: handwritten, from everyone named in the contract if there are several
• Language: towards German landlords and main tenants, a German letter is usual and avoids misunderstandings. You can use this text as a guide and ask a German speaker to check it. A German version of the key sentence: „Hiermit kündige ich das Mietverhältnis über das Zimmer … fristgerecht zum …, hilfsweise zum nächstmöglichen Termin.“

After giving notice

Tell your flatmates as soon as the notice is out, even if you formally have time. Settle open amounts before you move out. In the shared expenses in ManaWG you see your balance and the suggested transfers. If the Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee) is in your name, someone has to take it over. At your new address you register (Anmeldung) within two weeks, see Anmeldung in a flat share. Handover, deposit and all further points are in the moving-out checklist.