This ordinance lists a total of 62 municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein in which rent increases up to the local comparative rent will be limited in future in accordance with Section 558 para. 1 BGB. The state legislature has thus made use of its option under Section 558 para. 3 sentence 3 BGB to restrict the possibilities for rent increases because it considered the adequate supply of rental housing at reasonable conditions to be at risk in these 62 municipalities.
The municipalities affected by this ordinance include the independent cities of Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg, the municipalities of Ahrensburg, Elmshorn, Pinneberg, Norderstedt and Kaltenkirchen as well as all municipalities on the North Sea island of Sylt. Instead of the rent increase of up to 20% every three years (cap) previously permitted under Section 558 para. 3 sentence 1 BGB, the rent in these municipalities can now only be increased by up to 15% within this period (reduced cap) in accordance with Section 558 para. 3 sentence 2 BGB. This regulation will apply up to and including April 30, 2029.
The regulation only affects residential tenancies for which neither a graduated rent nor an index-linked rent has been agreed. The ordinance does not result in any changes for commercial, graduated and index-linked rental agreements.
However, what is not regulated by law and is controversial is whether the reduced rent cap of 15% already applies to rent increases that will not take effect until May 1, 2024, but for which the landlord has already requested the tenant's consent up to and including April 30, 2024. Such cases will presumably not just occur in isolated cases, because in the event of a request for a rent increase pursuant to section 558 para. 1 BGB, tenants only owe the increased rent from the beginning of the third calendar month after receipt of the request for the increase (section 558b para. 1 BGB). This question is therefore relevant for all rent increase requests received by tenants in the period from February 1 to April 30, 2024 or still to be received by then.
The Federal Court of Justice has not yet dealt with this question. According to the prevailing opinion and the decision of the Regional Court of Munich I, the date of receipt and not the effective date of the rent increase request should be decisive for the application of a rent cap ordinance. Accordingly, landlords in the 62 municipalities affected could therefore still demand a rent increase of up to 20% up to and including April 30, 2024, provided that the other requirements under Section 558 BGB are met. All landlords affected by the regulation are advised to do so from a purely economic point of view.
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