Reader question: Does a one-room flat exclude a claim to partial subletting from the outset?
You want to let part of your German one-room flat to another person during a temporary absence. The landlord refuses solely on the grounds that a single room could never legally be partially sublet. This blanket limitation does not correspond to the standard explained by the BGH.
First describe the actual usage concept
Draw a simple sketch and describe what is to be handed over to the other person and what actually remains under your own physical control. Which areas are reserved for your use, which items remain there and how will your access actually be maintained? A mere designation as a “part” does not replace an appropriate reality.
Keep personal documents separate from the description required for the request. Proof of a reserved area does not require opening the contents of private documents to third parties. What matters is the concrete spatial and factual agreement.
Separate the legal entitlement question from the number of rooms
§ 553 BGB links a possible claim to a legitimate interest that arose after the contract was concluded and the handing over of part of the living space. The provision also names grounds for exclusion and a possible condition of an appropriate rent increase. [BGB553]
The BGH made clear in VIII ZR 109/22 of 13 September 2023 that a claim can in principle also exist in a one-room flat. What is decisive is regularly that possession is not completely relinquished; a fixed room or area quota is not required. [BGH10922] This does not create a general permission to hand over any flat in its entirety.
Do not reconstruct the concrete case as a furnishing trick
In the decided case personal belongings remained in reserved areas and a flat key stayed with the tenant. The BGH assessed the overall concept in that case. [BGH10922] The judgment does not guarantee that any complete handover can be renamed by placing a cupboard anywhere.
Disclose the actual period, the named person and your interest that arose afterwards. Have it examined whether the planned concept meets the requirements and whether there is a statutory countervailing reason. The answer should relate to these details and not only to the number of living rooms.
Bring a refusal to factual further review
In the hypothetical case a concretely described area is to actually remain with the tenancy party during a professional absence. The refusal mentions exclusively the one-room flat. The tenancy party submits the request, sketch and response for advice and asks for an examination of the entitlement position.
They do not hand over the flat autonomously just because they found a judgment. Claim, actually granted permission and the consequences of a handing-over that has already occurred must be kept separate. An asserted entitlement situation can be decisive in a dispute, but it does not replace an individual assessment of one’s own conduct.
Then adhere to the clarified concept
Later use must match the examined request. If, contrary to the described plan, everything is handed over or the person or duration is changed, the altered process will be clarified again.