Housing in Germany: from shared flats to your own apartment
Find a room, share a flat, sign paper, pay a deposit. Tap a card to read more.
Three ways to live
Wohnheim, WG or your own flat. WG is the usual apprentice path. Far too cheap is often a scam.
What it is: Most apprentices live in one of three ways: a Wohnheim (dorm, cheaper, small), a WG (shared flat, the usual path), or their own flat (dearer, quieter). Handbook Germany and WG-Gesucht agree: a room that is “far too cheap, landlord abroad” is almost always a scam.
How to do it: Check local rents before you write. Wohnheim: ask the vocational school or the firm. WG: WG-Gesucht.de, city Facebook groups, the school board. Own flat: often Schufa, pay slips, a queue. View in person. Bring passport, training contract, a short German intro.
Watch out: ⚠️ Price far below the area. No meeting. Deposit before a viewing. Keys “by post”. No money until you have stood in the room and have paper.
Tip: 💡 Keep the message short, write at German hours, attach a decent photo. Ask the local Vietnamese group which areas are loud or far from night shifts. Before any payment, paste the chat into ChatGPT: “does this look like a housing scam?”
Read more: 🔗 Handbook Germany — renting, WG-Gesucht on fake ads. More on our scam-warning page.
WG rules
Cleaning rota, quiet hours, shared bills. Ask on day one. Silence then anger breaks the flat.
What it is: A WG works when three things are clear: the cleaning rota (Putzplan), quiet hours, and shared bills. There is often no nationwide “afternoon nap law”. 22:00 to 6:00 or 7:00 plus the house rules usually sit on the fridge, not in a federal act.
How to do it: On move-in day ask: who buys toilet paper, where is the rubbish, can you cook late? Photo the rota. Write down power, water, internet, and the broadcasting fee if it applies: per head or per room. Tell people before a guest stays over. Quiet beats loud music at 23:00.
Watch out: ⚠️ Nobody cleans and everyone is angry. Housemates take your food. The landlord “drops in” with no date. Neighbours calling the police at night can lead to a written warning.
Tip: 💡 In week one, clean a bit more than the rota. Talk early, before it blows up. Unsure of the house rules? Use the WG-Gesucht wiki or paste them into ChatGPT. Money only against a clear deal, including the shared kitty.
Read more: 🔗 WG-Gesucht, Verbraucherzentrale — tenancy law. Every city is different. Ask the flat, not TikTok.
Rental contract
Ask for paper. Read the notice period before you sign. Do not sign German you cannot read.
What it is: A German Mietvertrag is paper. Verbraucherzentrale says: read before you sign, especially the term, the rent, and the notice period. Flats are often three months. A furnished room in the main tenant’s own home can be about two weeks (§ 573c (3) BGB). Do not sign a German text you cannot read.
How to do it: Ask for paper or a PDF. Check cold rent, extra costs, whose name, which room, from when. A fixed-term (Zeitmietvertrag) ends by itself. Keep a copy. On move-in day write a handover protocol, photo the scratches, note the meter readings.
Watch out: ⚠️ Chat only, no contract. An English photocopy with no address. “Six months’ deposit”. Signing without knowing the notice period can leave you paying extra months.
Tip: 💡 Give the contract to a German you trust, a advice centre, or ChatGPT: “explain the end and the deposit”. Ask first, then sign. Deposit and first rent only after the signature, to the account on the paper.
Read more: 🔗 Verbraucherzentrale — tenancy law, § 573c BGB. Many cities have cheap tenant advice.
Deposit (Kaution)
At most 3 months’ cold rent. Never pay before a viewing. Keep the receipt.
What it is: The Kaution is the rental deposit. § 551 BGB: at most three months’ cold rent, not including service charges. You may pay in three instalments. The landlord must keep it off their own money. WG-Gesucht: never pay before a viewing.
How to do it: Transfer to the account on the contract, reference “Kaution + address”. Keep the receipt. On leaving: clean, do the handover, get a signature. The landlord often has weeks to a few months for damage and bills, then the rest comes back.
Watch out: ⚠️ Four months. Western Union. A “reservation fee” before you sign. No receipt. More than three cold rents is unlawful — the extra part does not stand.
Tip: 💡 Money only when the papers are enough. Photos on the way in and out. Ask your community or ChatGPT before you hit send. Deposit kept for no reason? Tenant union, Verbraucherzentrale, city advice.
Read more: 🔗 § 551 BGB, Verbraucherzentrale — deposits. Same story as “pay then vanish”? See our scam warnings.