Reader question: How are room share, furnishing and running costs classified in the case of a genuine sublet?
For a single room, 620 euros are requested per month. The listing only says “inclusive of everything”. Whether this price is legally appropriate and whether it fits your budget are two different questions. For the first you need the applicable price rule and a comprehensible breakdown. A comparison with three other flatshare listings does not answer that on its own.
First confirm it is a genuine sublet
This article assumes a contract that is actually to be classified as a sublet. If you become a primary tenant together with others, that is a different starting point. Likewise, the specific rented object must fall within the scope of the MRG rules set out here. Have these prerequisites clarified before you start any percentage calculation. [MRG1]
The starting figure is not just any transfer
In the case of a complete subletting, § 26 paragraph 1 ties to the lawfully payable main rent and generally specifies a surcharge of at most 50 percent; certain other rent components and VAT are treated separately. In the case of partial subletting, paragraph 2 makes a reasonable amount corresponding to the sublet portion decisive. [MRG26]
That is not permission to apply a flat 50 percent surcharge to the entire unchecked payment of the main tenant and divide the result by the number of rooms. Communal areas, different rooms and the actual provided use must align in a professional assessment. The article does not invent a universally valid distribution formula for that.
Put three price questions side by side
Our editorial recommendation: Please first ask to separate the fee for the room provided, the included furnishings and the running costs or utilities. Which item is fixed, which will be billed and according to which key? Also ask what “everything” explicitly does not include.
§ 26 appropriately takes into account objectively useful improvement expenses and refers, in substance, to § 25. That permits only a reasonable fee for provided items of furniture or other services. [MRG26] [MRG25] A new label such as service package therefore does not replace an explanation of the actual service. On the other hand, an existing bed is not automatically provided free of charge.
Fixed term changes the assessment
For the fixed-term sublet contract, § 26 paragraph 3 contains a discount of 25 percent on the maximum amount specified there, with express exceptions for certain passed-on rent components. [MRG26] So do not blindly deduct a quarter from every total amount. Whether the fixed term and the individual cost components are correctly classified must be established first.
A hypothetical price comparison becomes a concrete follow-up question
Lina receives a room offer for 620 euros and an oral statement that the whole flat costs “around a thousand”. Instead of immediately calculating her permitted rent from that, she asks about the actually relevant main rent components, the areas handed over, the furnishing and the treatment of energy.
An answer then separates the room share from a furniture fee and an energy account. That still does not confirm any amount as permissible. The components can now, however, each be examined on the basis, reasonableness and billing method. The numbers are invented, not market values.
Decide with the question clarified
If a suspicion of overcharging remains, take the complete contract, payment demands and the calculation information you have received for advice. § 26 paragraph 4 contains its own rules on assertion and limitation. Have these examined in the concrete course of events, rather than regarding a follow-up question in the flatshare chat as secure preservation of time limits. For your decision you need both a comprehensible price and clear future billings.