The furnishings are fixed, and now a monthly furniture charge is to be included in the tenancy agreement. An advert in the neighbourhood names a surcharge, an acquaintance suggests a percentage of the new price. Neither answer yet what service is actually provided in your flat and what amount is legally justifiable.
Distinguish ongoing provision from furniture sale
This concerns items that the letting side provides for use. A one‑off purchase between a previous and a subsequent tenant is a different matter. The security deposit also does not belong in the same calculation. Whoever keeps the payment types separate can ask the right questions in the specialist review.
§ 25 MRG requires, within its scope of application, a reasonable remuneration for provided furnishings or agreed other services. The short provision does not name a universal table that would convert any furniture inventory into an admissible monthly payment using a fixed annual rate. [ENTGELT] Therefore the concrete scope of application must be examined first. [RAHMEN]
Record the actual promised service
The starting point is the inventory that is actually to be provided during the agreed period of use. Describe important items with age, condition and identification. Lay existing purchase receipts beside them and indicate if an age was only estimated. An old purchase price is historical information, not proof of a current level of remuneration.
Also record any apparent limitations. A damaged chair, a screen that is not let with the property or a table placed only for photographs must not be treated in the calculation as if they were fully provided equipment. The description should be recognisable later in the contract and at handover.
Use your own calculation as review material
Our editorial recommendation: Show in a working calculation openly what value, what period of use and what other assumptions you rely on. Label the result as a proposal. Have a knowledgeable person check whether the method, the input values and the final amount fit within the specific legal framework.
A particularly high desired rent does not become reasonable simply because you subsequently distribute it across several items. Conversely, a low purchase price alone does not tell the whole story about the service actually agreed. The review needs a complete, factual position instead of a polished calculation. This article deliberately gives neither a fixed percentage nor an annual depreciation for all furniture.
Fictitious case: The inventory changes before handover
Ramin plans an ongoing furniture charge for bed, wardrobe and workstation. Before moving in, the tenant wishes to use their own bed. Ramin decides to remove the previous bed from the flat. He must therefore reassess the scope offered.
He has examined what the change means for the negotiated amount and how it appears in the contract status. He does not merely delete the bed photo and leave the old inventory list in place. The new version shows which items remain and what the reviewed remuneration refers to.
Do not sell ongoing care as an indefinite add‑on package
If further services are promised, they must also be concrete. The word service does not yet explain whether only a contact option or a specific performance is agreed. § 25 also covers other services; the legal classification of a specific item must be examined. [ENTGELT]
For defects the tenant should know an appropriate reporting channel. Clarify internally who receives a report and organises the further processing. That does not yet result in a blanket liability or repair rule for every item.
Conclude with a coherent offer
In the end the service description, the actual inventory and the justification of the remuneration should fit together. The contract needs the professionally appropriate drafting for the case; a separate calculation list is the working basis for this. That is how a furniture charge becomes a comprehensible agreement instead of a surcharge whose purpose only has to be explained at the first failure.