Tenant protection in NRW: New rules bring hope for 6.1 million tenants!

Tenant protection in NRW: New rules bring hope for 6.1 million tenants!

From March 1, 2025, a new tenant protection regulation in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) comes into force. This regulation is extended to several municipalities in the Mettmann district. According to WZ , the Schwarz-Green state is aimed at tenant protection after the cuts in the year To strengthen again in 2020. In the future, the rental price brake will apply in a total of 57 cities and municipalities in NRW, a significant increase compared to previously only 18 municipalities.

Potentially, around 6.1 million people in NRW could benefit from the new regulations. In Erkrath, Hilden, Langenfeld, Monheim and Ratingen, the rental price brake will now also apply. With this measure, the state government reacts to the tense situation on the housing market.

new regulations in detail

The rental price brake enables the rent for new rental contracts may be a maximum of ten percent above the local rent. In addition, inventory rents may only be raised by 15 percent within three years until the local comparative rent is reached. These changes replace the previous regulation, which was regularly valid until the end of June 2025 Immowelt .

Another important aspect is the locking period. This was increased from five to eight years after a rental apartment was converted into a condominium. This means that a new owner can cancel after eight years at the earliest due to its own use. Exceptions only apply to real estate that were converted and sold before March 1, 2025 that remain the five -year blocking period.

criticism and outlook

The current rental price brake is limited until December 31, 2025, but there are ambiguities as to whether and under what conditions a new federal government will extend the regulations. WDR reports that the SPD criticizes the new regulation as inadequate and calls for a revision because the database of the regulation is outdated. It is criticized that about 85 percent of the NRW municipalities are excluded from more effective tenant protection.

The state government has based its decision on the cities concerned on an expert opinion from a consultant company, the details of which have not yet been public. It is also warned that some cities, such as Bochum, Essen and Mönchengladbach, will not benefit from the regulation.

In the ongoing discussion, it becomes clear that both tenant protection associations and opposition politicians critically consider the regulations. While the state government poses the new measures positively, critics require more extensive approaches to relieve the tenant market in NRW.