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When furnished letting actually pays off – with furniture premiums from 16 German cities, target groups, depreciation rules, the 2026 rent cap reform, deposit, small‑business rule, change‑of‑use rules, plus an interactive 36‑month ROI calculator.
At first glance, furnished letting sounds attractive: higher rent, shorter ties, no quarrels about the paintwork. In practice the extra revenue stands against a list of costs – depreciation, tenant turnover, vacancy, maintenance – and against a legally tricky rent cap. This guide redoes the maths and shows when "furnished" actually pays off.
If you want a quick feel for your own case, jump straight to the calculator. The rest of the article explains how it works and what assumptions sit behind it.
Estimate whether renting furnished pays off versus unfurnished over three years – including depreciation, turnover and extra maintenance.
Floor space of the apartment in square metres.
Net cold rent per month without furniture, at market level.
Full set-up incl. kitchen, bed, sofa, table, lighting.
Surcharge per month – currently approx. €4.00/m².
Expected tenancy avg. 14 months · vacancy per move avg. 2 weeks.
Net advantage (36 mo.)
€3,325
Extra income minus furniture depreciation, turnover and vacancy cost · ROI 55.4% on the furniture investment.
Break-even
Month 61
Beyond the 3-year horizon – the investment only pays back later.
Gross extra income
€6,397
Premium × 36 occupied months (vacancy excluded).
Cost items in the 3-year horizon
Model calculation with flat assumptions (13-year depreciation per the BMF AfA table 'AV', extra maintenance €25/month). Have tax planning and rent-cap implications reviewed individually by a tax adviser or lawyer.
Before any numbers make sense, the terms need to be straight. Tenancies and listings use three categories that are legally and financially very different:
How high the premium can be depends on city, location and level of furnishing. The most recent large‑scale analysis comes from the IW Köln, based on around one million rental listings. For 2024 it found:
furnished (top 7)
+18%
Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart
furnished (next 9)
+15%
e.g. Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden
short‑stay (top 7)
+33%
short term, fully furnished
The market shares speak for themselves: in cities of 500,000 inhabitants and more, every third listing was furnished or short‑stay in 2024 – in Frankfurt around 41%. The main reason is not a boom in furnished letting but the collapse of the conventional market: between 2021 and 2025, roughly 32,000 unfurnished listings disappeared from the top‑7 cities (–23%), while furnished listings grew by only around 5,000 Quelle.
Furnished apartments charge around 18% more on average – short‑stay lettings even a good third. The premium does not automatically cover the extra cost of furniture, turnover and service, though.
Context matters: the IW figure is the median across listing prices, not a promise for your specific case. Platform numbers like "+45% furniture premium" often mix classic furnished one‑year contracts with short‑stay offers. For a sound calculation, work with the IW figures and only apply the higher premium in genuine short‑stay constellations.
The most important change for furnished letting comes not from the market but from the statute book. Since the 2026 rental law reform it is settled that furnished apartments in tight housing markets fall fully under the rent cap – the furniture premium can no longer be used to dodge the cap on the cold rent for the apartment itself Quelle.
Three points to internalise before you draft your next tenancy:
Furnished letting works best where tenants travel light and plan medium‑term stays. Four groups shape the market:
The right target group decides your return calculation. Students and business travellers bring more turnover and therefore more vacancy; expats stay longer – the calculator lets you play it through.
Going after students and doctoral candidates means tapping into a particularly reliable market in Germany. In the 2024/25 winter semester some 405,000 international students were enrolled at German universities – around 6% more than the year before, the highest figure to date Quelle. This is the natural target group for furnished lettings: shipping furniture from abroad doesn't pay, first registration in Germany without a credit record is hard, and a fully equipped apartment saves time and nerves in the first weeks.
The market reflects it. According to the MLP Student Housing Report 2025 (data: IW Köln), cold rents in university towns rose by an average of 2.3% in 2025, with small apartments up to 30 m² up by 4.3% Quelle. Short‑stay furnished listings grew in almost every university city studied – from Munich and Heidelberg via Berlin and Hamburg to Cologne, Mannheim and Aachen. Landlords there benefit twice: a steady stream of international demand and a rent level that keeps up with the broader market.
Extra income is one side of the coin. The other is the running cost and risk that any realistic model has to include:
A solid complete set‑up runs between €4,000 and €12,000 depending on size. The investment does not hit your accounts as an expense immediately but is depreciated straight‑line over 13 years – as set by the Federal Finance Ministry's AfA table for generally usable assets ("AV"), item 6.15Quelle. For €6,000 in furniture that is about €462 per year deductible against rental income – tax‑efficient, but a permanent drag on the books.
Built‑in kitchens are treated as a single asset following the BFH ruling IX R 14/17 and depreciated over 10 years – sink, hob, units and appliances togetherQuelle. Individual items below €800 net count as low‑value assets and can be expensed immediatelyQuelle. Keep individual receipts – without clean documentation, everything ends up in the 13‑year table.
Furnished means more inventory lists, damage inspections, cleaning. Per tenant change you quickly land at €300–600 in real costs – plus the hours you put in that no spreadsheet captures.
Furnished apartments change tenants more often than unfurnished ones. Even with good re‑letting you average one to three weeks of vacancy per turnover. On a six‑month contract that is quickly 5–10% gross rent lost per year.
Broken dishwasher, worn sofa cushions, wobbly office chair – the landlord carries the risk. Plan a realistic €20–40 per month flat rate, depending on the level of finish.
Furniture depreciation
13 years
BMF table 'AV', item 6.15
Built‑in kitchen depreciation
10 years
BFH IX R 14/17
Low‑value asset ceiling (net)
€800
Immediate write‑off per item
The real‑world useful life of heavily used rental furniture is often shorter – sofas and mattresses rarely last 13 years in a student flatshare. For tax purposes you can still only depreciate at the pace the table prescribes, but you may book an exceptional write‑off for documented damage.
Rule-of-thumb values in percentage points of the cold rent: the median furnished premium is about +18 % (IW Köln, top-7 cities). Depreciation, vacancy and maintenance eat up most of it – how much net remains depends on your case.
Furnished letting means staying compliant in several places at once. These five topics decide whether the extra revenue holds up or has to be paid back.
As long as you hand the apartment over as part of private asset management, the income falls under § 21 EStG – income from letting and leasing. That applies to classic one‑year contracts as well as furnished apartments with regularly changing tenants Quelle. It gets tricky if you start to behave like a hotel: cleaning, fresh linen, breakfast, reception, or stays so short and turnover so organised that the lettings look economically like a hospitality business. Then the activity can be reclassified as commercial – with consequences for VAT, trade tax and income tax. The line is drawn case by case; talk to a tax adviser before the first listing goes live Quelle.
Long‑term residential letting beyond six months is VAT exempt (§ 4 No. 12 UStG) – furniture counts as a non‑independent ancillary service. Short‑term lets up to six months are subject to the reduced 7% rate on accommodation and furniture (§ 12 Para. 2 No. 11 UStG). The small‑business rule can spare you the VAT charge: since 2025 you stay a small business if your prior‑year turnover did not exceed €25,000 and your current‑year turnover stays below €100,000. Have it confirmed individually Quelle.
The legal essentials for furnished living are covered in detail in the “Rental law reform 2026” section above – here is how it fits into the tax and legal context. The German rent cap has been extended from July 2025 to 31 December 2029. In the roughly 814 municipalities classified as "tight housing markets" the new‑contract cold rent must not exceed the local reference rent by more than 10%. And yes – furnished apartments are affected unless an exception applies Quelle.
The furniture premium itself is not directly subject to the cap – but it must be calculated separately and defensible. Otherwise the landlord carries the burden of proof and risks having to refund the excess rent. In Berlin, guidelines have become established and are frequently applied: around 2% of the current furniture value per month, derived from a 10‑year straight‑line depreciation plus 12–14% return on capital Quelle. That formula is Berlin LG practice, not a nationwide standard – other regional courts calculate differently. As a self‑calculation ceiling, however, it remains a sensible benchmark you can defend in court.
Tenancies for temporary use only are excluded from the rent cap. What matters is not the furniture but the mutually intended short tenancy for a specific reason – an internship, a project posting, a renovation of the tenant's main residence. Anyone who labels a standard one‑year contract as "short‑stay" risks having the exception overturned and the cap applied retroactively. A reform under discussion in the Bundesrat would, in tight markets, generally rule out short‑stay status once the tenancy lasts six months or longer Quelle.
Anyone offering "furnished with frequent turnover" steps beyond tenancy and tax law into change‑of‑use law. More than 60 German municipalities now have local ordinances – including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and, since 2019, Aachen under North Rhine‑Westphalia's Housing Strengthening Act. Anyone permanently using residential space for purposes other than long‑term living – holiday lets or daily tenant changes – needs a permit. Thresholds vary widely:
Fines run up to €500,000 (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg) and are actually imposed. Long‑term furnished letting from around six months onwards to the same tenant generally falls outside change‑of‑use rules – the tenant transfers their primary residence and registers there, so the apartment continues to serve a residential purpose Quelle.
The statutory ceiling applies to furnished apartments too: the deposit may not exceed three months' net cold rent (§ 551 (1) BGB) Quelle. What counts is the cold rent without operating costs – and, after the separate disclosure (see the 2026 reform), without the furniture premium. The tenant may pay the deposit in three monthly instalments (§ 551 (2) BGB), the first at the start of the tenancy. The landlord must hold it separately from their own assets and insolvency-proof (§ 551 (3) BGB); the interest belongs to the tenant.
For a genuine short‑stay letting under § 549 (2) BGB the three-month limit of § 551 BGB does not necessarily apply – in practice providers there often require higher security or a prepayment. But as soon as a regular residential tenancy exists (main residence, open-ended), the three-cold-rents cap applies without exception.
This single template does three jobs at once: it substantiates the current value of the furniture for the rent cap, documents the condition for the deposit settlement, and records meter readings and keys. Copy it, fill in the placeholders and have both parties sign.
INVENTORY LIST & HANDOVER PROTOCOL
Apartment: [street, house number, location], [postcode, town]
Landlord: [name] Tenant: [name]
Handover on: [date] [ ] Move-in [ ] Move-out
1) METER READINGS
Electricity: ______ Gas: ______ Water hot/cold: ______ / ______
2) KEYS
Front door: __ pcs Apartment: __ pcs Mailbox: __ pcs Cellar: __ pcs
3) FURNITURE & INVENTORY (basis for furniture premium / current value)
Room | Item | Year of purchase | New price | Condition
--------|--------------------|------------------|-----------|----------------
Living | Sofa | [year] | [amount] | [new/good/used]
Living | Dining table+chairs| [year] | [amount] | [ ]
Bedroom | Bed + mattress | [year] | [amount] | [ ]
Kitchen | Built-in kitchen | [year] | [amount] | [ ]
Kitchen | Fridge | [year] | [amount] | [ ]
[...] | [...] | [...] | [...] | [...]
Total new price: [amount] -> estimated current value total: [amount]
4) CONDITION OF ROOMS / DEFECTS
[e.g. scratch on living-room parquet; window seal in bedroom]
5) CONFIRMATION
Both parties confirm the accuracy. Landlord and tenant each receive one copy.
____________________ ____________________
Landlord, date Tenant, date
Estimate whether renting furnished pays off versus unfurnished over three years – including depreciation, turnover and extra maintenance.
Floor space of the apartment in square metres.
Net cold rent per month without furniture, at market level.
Full set-up incl. kitchen, bed, sofa, table, lighting.
Surcharge per month – currently approx. €4.00/m².
Expected tenancy avg. 14 months · vacancy per move avg. 2 weeks.
Net advantage (36 mo.)
€3,325
Extra income minus furniture depreciation, turnover and vacancy cost · ROI 55.4% on the furniture investment.
Break-even
Month 61
Beyond the 3-year horizon – the investment only pays back later.
Gross extra income
€6,397
Premium × 36 occupied months (vacancy excluded).
Cost items in the 3-year horizon
Model calculation with flat assumptions (13-year depreciation per the BMF AfA table 'AV', extra maintenance €25/month). Have tax planning and rent-cap implications reviewed individually by a tax adviser or lawyer.
The calculator compares extra income with extra cost versus the unfurnished baseline over 36 months. It shows three values: the net advantage after three years, the break‑even month (cash recovery of the furniture investment) and the gross extra income earned. A clear recommendation closes the result – it does not replace tax or legal advice, but it tells you whether the case is worth a closer look.
Whether furnished is worth it rarely hinges on a single factor. Work through these five levers:
Which version pays off for your apartment is something the real market decides in the end – and that's exactly what WOHNO makes visible. The guided listing wizard takes care of the mandatory energy-certificate details and states cold rent and furniture premium separately – the very split that matters in any dispute over the rent cap. The WOHNO score pre‑sorts the requests from your target group, so you don't have to work through each one individually.
List your apartment furnished or unfurnished on WOHNO
Run both versions of the listing in parallel, compare requests by target group and decide on real demand rather than gut feeling.
Continue with WOHNO
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