Cologne in the rental crisis: new measures against rental usury decided!

Köln kämpft gegen Mietwucher: Aktuelle Herausforderungen der Wohnungssituation und neue Maßnahmen des Kölner Rates im Juli 2025.
Cologne is fighting rental usury: Cologne -based challenges and new measures by the Cologne Council in July 2025. (Symbolbild/MK)

Cologne in the rental crisis: new measures against rental usury decided!

The housing situation in Cologne is a hot iron that not only moves the people of Cologne, but also calls urban politics on the scene. The fear of rent increases is omnipresent, while apartment seekers are in vain for fair prices. This reports Rundschau online . In the cathedral city, many real estate offers are well above the local comparative rent.

The numbers speak volumes: An 80 square meter apartment in Nippes, for example, costs 1,450 euros, and the 90 square meters in Longerich are not exactly a bargain at just under 1,200 euros. Experts warn of a trend that free apartments are often only awarded by hand, which also also contains the already tense market.

political measures for regulation

The Cologne rent index, which forms the basis for calculating the comparison rent, takes into account a variety of factors, such as the location, size and condition of the apartment. Interestingly, this comprises all districts and is adapted to the market development every two years. Unfortunately, it turns out that many real estate offers in Cologne are far above this rent index.

meeting of politics and tenancy law

In order to reduce the pressure on the housing market, the rental price brake will remain in force until the end of 2029. This emerges from new resolutions of the Bundestag, as reports Tagesspiegel . As part of this regulation, rents in new rentals may be a maximum of 10% above the local comparative rent, whereby newly built or extensively modernized apartments are excluded.

The discussion about the rental price brake has produced many opinions. The German Tenants' Association calls for effective fines for violations of this regulation and a deletion of all exceptions, apart from new buildings. Critics from the owner association Haus und Grund see the rental price brake as superfluous and warn of negative effects on planning security for landlords.

look into the future

The housing situation in Cologne will continue to remain an urgent topic in the future. Tenants and politics are faced with the challenge of creating fair living conditions, while demand continues to increase. Rents in the largest German cities have increased by almost 50% since 2015, especially in tense markets such as Cologne. In this mixing, transparent regulations and responsible offers are required to protect both the interests of tenants and landlords.

In a further step,

Expert groups are to develop proposals for tenancy law by the end of next year, which also include regulations for furnished and short -term rentals. The developments on the housing market can therefore continue to be observed.

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OrtKöln, Deutschland
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