Dear Biker200,

Thanks for the post and apologies for the delay getting back to you. I have just returned from Berlin. Please find the answers to your questions below.

1) What capping there is and how it works? Is capping planned to be stopped?

There are no current plans to stop capping. Rents can only be increase up to 20% every three years and are not allowed to exceed the Mietspiegel (rental mirror). The level of the Mietspiegel is set at least every three years. For more information on this and links to the website for the Mietspiegel rates please see the how to buy section of our website.

2) Can the rents be increased during the tenancy period?

Yes once every 15 months

3) With new tenants does capping come into play - and even if it does can I expect to get higher rent then from someone who has been in situ for 3 or so years?

If changing tenant you can increase rents as much as you like (more than the 20% in three years etc) but you must still stay within the Mietspiegel. That being said in reality most apartments will have had rents increase whilst the tenant has been in place and probably already be near the Mietspiegel anyway.

So unless your buying an apartment with a rent well under the market level there should be very little difference.

I hope this has clarified everything for you, if not please feel free to either post on here again or email questions directly to me.

Kind regards,

Andrew Stanley