Home office: does the landlord have to agree?

Carola Felchner is a freelance writer in the medical department and a certified training and nutrition advisor. She worked for various specialist magazines and online portals before becoming a freelance journalist in 2015. Before starting her internship, she studied translation and interpreting in Kempten and Munich.

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Does home office mean commercial use of a residential property? And does the landlord have to allow that? Answers from the German Tenants' Association.

Anyone who has rented their apartment for residential purposes is not allowed to use the rooms for commercial purposes. The question arises: Does working from home count as commercial use? Not necessarily, as the German Tenants' Association explains. He refers to a decision by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

Work as inconspicuously as possible

According to the BGH, tenants are allowed to work from home and can pursue their freelance or commercial activity if there is no unreasonable nuisance to roommates through customer traffic (Az .: VIII ZR 165/08). Working within your own four walls is also permitted if the character of the apartment does not change and no structural changes are made.

When the landlord has to agree

In all other cases, the landlord's approval is always required. This already applies in the event that the apartment is given to the trade office as a permanent establishment and used as a business address, the BGH decided in another case (Az .: VIII ZR 149/13). The judges in Karlsruhe ruled that the remunerated care of several children - here five children - as childminders is prohibited as part-commercial use.

Without permission, there is a risk of dismissal

Anyone who pursues a professional activity in the apartment without the permission of the landlord risks a warning and possibly termination due to use of the rental property contrary to the contract, explains the tenants' association. Commercial use is only permitted if this is provided for in the rental agreement or if the landlord agrees. (caf / dpa)

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