Renting an apartment as a non-German resident

Hey guys,

This is a strange one. I'm working for an English company and I've been giving an English contract. However, I shall be required to work out of Berlin for the next 6 months, so I need to rent an a apartment in Berlin. Does anyone knowthe laws on this. Can an English resident rent property in Berlin/Germany with signing in to Germany?

If anyone knows anything about this, it would be most kind if you could let me know.

Best Regards,

Leon.

No you can't, we all actually live under Autobahn bridges. Not to bad once you get used to it. Some lucky foreigners marry Germans and then get to live in their spouses garage.

Edit: Of course you can rent propery and I am certain you can even find an english speaking realtor to assist you.

Yes it is not a problem at all. You will still need to register your residence - more details on that here. I am not 100% certain how it works but you will need to tell the them and presumably the Finanzamt (tax office) saying that you are working and paying taxes in the UK so do not need to pay here - maybe somebody else can give more information on this as I am not certain.

That is most very probably true...


I very much doubt that that will be as simple - you resident here you pay taxes here - given that you will be residing 6mths at least (unless you have diplomatic status or similar). Maybe you can try and register your German location as your "secondary residence" with UK as primary - but you will immediately run into issue of proving that UK is your primary residence - difficult because UK does not have the registration process (which totally baffles German burocracy).

You can do it and will probably have no problems.

You are supposed to register here and to pay tax here if you are here for over 190 (I think) days, but you wouldn't be the first person not to

It's an interesting one 'cos of course as soon as you register over here you will be SUCKED into the system and this will trigger all sorts of paperwork and bollox you don't really want.

6 months is also a kinda tricky one as you are right on the 50/50 edge of where you pay tax, but clearly gonna be easier/cheaper/smarter to keep to the UK system only - otherwise potentially you could end up registering and deregistering etc.

Register -> always.
Pay taxes -> 187 or more days.

Not strictly true, when I first came over it was on a temporary basis and I stayed in the UK tax system. My company informed the Inland Revenue who in turn informed the German tax office who gave their approval.

This also allowed me and my family to receive AOK health cover and even get a top up on child benefit with the UK authorities paying the standard amount and the Germans paying the difference. I was allowed to do this for three years.

But saying that I also know quite a few people who have been over here for some time and rented flats without ever registering

Thanks for the information guys. I was registered here before and I was glad to shake off the "attachements" when I signed out. I feel it is easier working under the British Flag . . . glad to be back with the NHS!

I guess it's easy to bend the truth on the length of stay especially when return visits to the UK are made. The problem I suspect will be in obtaining a contract on a propery for the desired duration. I guess the letters and letting agencies have their rules and regs which they need to abide.

I don't know if this is strictly true. If you have a permanent residence somewhere else, and can prove you're only making a temporary stay for work, it's likely you can still pay tax in your usual country.

You would probably be better off in a serviced apartment come hotel. I've been staying in one near Stuttgart now for over a year (also have an apartment in Darmstadt though) with at least another year to go. Doing it that way you don't have to register at the local Amts, don't worry about Kaution etc. Where I'm staying there's a load of non-Germans as its easier this way.

It's nothing to do with paying tax, it's declaring for tax. It's usually the case that tax paid elsewhere can be offset against any liability for tax in Germany as a result of the submission. If you paid less tax abroad than the Germans think you should pay here as a result of German income then you have to pay the difference.

To answer the original question, you don't need to be registered to rent an apartment (in fact, in theory at least, you can't register until you have somewhere confirmed to live), but most rental contracts will require you to register your residence within 7 days of moving in (which the authorities also expect)