Hi all, glad I found this website.

I met my perfect girl whilst travelling in Australia and as you've all probably guessed, she's German.

Anyway, I'm considering moving to Hamburg to be with her (she's a student) but not quite sure what I might need as a British National when I try to rent a flat in Hamburg.

Do we need extra documentation which I might not know off? Any advice on renting in Hamburg would be much appreciated.

Regards

Rich

OK, Brit in Hamburg trying to find a flat...
You need your passport.
When you have found a flat via-
1 Private Landlord
2 Makler (estate agent)
3 Public housing authority (my choice - Baugenossenshäften - professional outfits)
You need to register with the local authority (Anmeldungsamt)
In Germany there is an "Anmeldungspflicht" - obligation to register where you are living.
(and IMHO a really good idea!!)
You have free range within the EU to live anywhere - as long as you can support yourself long term.
In Germany you have also to register at the "Auslanderanmeldungsamt"
(Foreigner Registration Dept) (Names are not the same throughout D).
As an EU citizen they will want to see your passport. You will then get a letter/certificate (Bescheinigung)
saying you are a UK citizen with Passport No XXX and are allowed to live in D.
You need to re-apply when you get a new passport.
Without this you can a) get fined not get unemployment pay c) not register a car

But how will he get a flat if he doesn't have a steady income (which, if I understood his post, seems to be the case at present)?

Offer to pay the rent 2 years in advance. I am serious.
If you get the flat and don't pay the rent, it easily can take the landlord one year to get you out again.
Who would take that risk?

Hi again, I know I didn't go into too much detail previously but I was at work at the time I wrote the orginal post, hence why I didn't search the topic in the forums before posting! (Thanks Kay for the suggestion before I got flamed by veteran forum members)

I have two options, I'm currently working for the BBC in London and we have a project that will be based in Hamburg for two years or... I also have a job lined up in Bremen but want to commute between Hamburg to Bremen everyday for work (I believe I can do this quicker than driving the 5 miles from my London flat to the centre of London for work!!)

If BBC comes through then it will be sorted out by them, if I end up with the job in Bremen then I have to do this all myself. My girlfriend did tell me that I could offer to pay up to a years rent upfront which is OK, but I don't want to be stuck in a place for a year before I am even settled.

Basically after searching the forums, I think I know what is necessary to get everything organised now. Thanks to everyone who has replied to my thread. Now... on to the introduction thread and hopefully I'll see you guys and gals around soon!

You should look into using rail - but suitability of car or Bahn depend upon where you plan to live & work. If you live in Hamburg
North of the river Elbe I would not be so happy about having to drive through the Elbtunnel each day. Traffic does not jam
every day but if a fairly common occurrence. I drive occasionally to Bremen airport or even to Duesseldorf & I can tell you that
2-lane wide A1 Autobahn between Hamburg & Bremen is as boring as hell & not at all pleasant to drive.

There is only one sensible way to commute between Hamburg and Bremen,
that is on the "Bahn" - Currently super double-decker trains run by Connex.
Beware of the Bundesbahn website - it ignores Connex (as competition) -
and gives only ICE's as plying between HH and Bremen. Look at the Connex website.
And what is this about paying rent years in advance?
Total nonsense. The German rental market is subject to STRINGENT
legal restrictions. 3 months "Kaution" !!
Some German landlords have discovered that naive foreigners have no idea...
There are laws, a plenty, but these are mostly in the interests of the tenant.
Try "Baugenossenshaften Bremen" (or Hamburg) to find SAGA Schiffszimmereigenossenschaft
and so on.
You have the choice when renting of:
1 Private people who specialise in foreigners
2 Maklers (Estate Agents)
3 Private Landlords
4 Housing Associations (Baugenossenschäften)
As someone who "knows the ropes" here, I'd take No. 4 every time.
Amateur landlords are a waste of time (true for UK and Germany).
You need someone to help you who speaks good German 'tho.
If I was turning the clock back 10 years I'd find a Steuerberater or Anwalt to help me -
it is really so different here - and you need someone on your side!

I don't agree 100% with Jeremy on the Baugenossenschaft.

I tried to get in when I was looking for a flat about 7 years ago, and thing is that you buy shares from them, and then get offered flats. 1.) I think that only really works if you intend to stay long term. 2) I wanted a three room place abt. 70 sqm for myself, and they (three different Baugenossenschaften) treated me as if I was completely crazy wanting that much space for 1 person, they kept telling me that I would be entitled for 50 sqm, which I didn't want. I found a very nice and not too expensive 3 room flat in Eimsbüttel via an estate agent.
The flat I am now living in with my partner is 100 sqm and we would never have got a flat that size for only two people at a Genossenschaft.
I know there's many people who are enraged about two people in a big apartment, but I think it's a question of supply and demand.

Don't know about the present situation at the Baugenossenschaften, but a while ago it took quite a while on the waiting list until they offered a flat, at least in certain areas like Eimsbüttel, Eppendorf, Barmbek-Süd, Winterhude, Altstadt, where I was looking as I wanted to have a short journey to work.

Thanks everyone for all your help so far.

Basically, I have now rented out my flat in London and need to be out of here by the 7th of March.

This puts me in a situation where I need to find a 2 bed flat in Hamburg before then, do you guys think this will be possible?

I have decided to go down the estate agent route as this sounds the most straight forward. Are there any estate agents that deals with foreigners better than others? I am hoping to find a place in any of the following regions: Eimsbüttel, Eppendorf, Barmbek-Süd, Winterhude, Altstadt.

As I have said before, any advice would be great. Although my girlfriend is German, she is new to Hamburg too and busy in the middle of her exam period at Uni so I'm looking at doing this on my own. Looking forward to it but sooooo much stress. Hope to see some of you in Hamburg soon!

Rich

Hi Rich, I am also a new member although I have been living here in D for some time and I guess like you and many others came here for the same reason! I know someone else has already mentioned "Kaution" or the 3 month deposit. But when I was looking to rent the first time some agents also wanted "die Courtage" as well, or "brokers fee". I am not sure, technically, if they are allowed to charge that without the owners permission but a couple tried it on anyway. When you are paying out 3 months upfront another 1-2 months for this fee can be a lot of cash to part with. I would hope reputable agents are above that. This time around I agreed with my landlord to open a bank account for the deposit cash where that earns interest for me but neither of us can access it without the others authority. Its pretty common practice. Your bank here can set it up in a few minutes. Good luck.

Whatever your (and my) feelings on the subject, in Germany paying two months' rent as broker's fee is quite normal when you go through an agent.

Deposit and courtage (agent's fee) both have to be calculated with the "Kaltmiete" ("cold" rent) - meaning just the rent for the flat, no adds like heating etc.

Deposit is normally 3 x Kaltmiete, Bank account as mentioned before is the best solution imo.
Courtage is normally 2 x Kaltmiete. Quite a rip-off, but not against the law unfortunately. More than the 2x Kaltmiete is not allowed, so make sure they calculate with the right amount...
If you pay that sort of money (courtage) - make sure that you want to stay in the flat for longer...

To be honest finding a flat ready to move in within less that a week seems quite unlikely to me, most people look for a flat for quite long, especially in the areas you want. Are you looking for furnished or unfurnished?

Since you're in a hurry I have a suggestion for you: there's a building at the end of the Reeperbahn, where they rent out furnished flats, mostly to expats, it's all on short notice, sometimes they have vacancies for moving in immediately. My boyfriend and also some other friends lived there for a while.
The area is not really nice, but very central, the flats are also not exactly nice, but moving there for some while would give you enough time to look for a good place. It's only a 2 min. walk to the S-Bahn, so that's a very short way for your girlfriend to University.

If you're interested, send me a PM and I give you the number of the landlady, she speaks English.