New Candidate Areas for "Milieuschutz" in Berlin Mitte

The Berlin district Mitte is considering to add more areas to the existing 5 “Milieuschutz” areas or to use the official title “Städtbauliche Erhaltungsgebiete”. A consortium of experts was instructed to look into areas that previously were suspected of being under pressure regarding modernizations and rent increases. The quarters (Kiez) under investigation are Soldiner Straße, Kattegatstraße, Reinickendorfer Straße and Humboldthain Nord-West.

Soldiner Straße, Berlin Wedding
By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) [FAL or CC BY-SA 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

The study shows that a large proportion of the population in these areas are now in danger of being pushed out by rent increases. Over the last decades, significant public investment went into these areas to improve the quality of living. This has attracted higher income tenants which in turn raises the attention of property investors.

The apartment buildings in these areas have a high potential for modernisation followed by rent increases: e.g. half of the apartments don’t have a balcony, very few have a lift.

These four areas are to be closely monitored for activities leading to the actual decision by the local council. Once the decision for starting the process for the declaration of “Milieuschutz” is published, certain activities like Title Split can already be blocked.

For more information about the implications for a property owner see my articles:

The Can Do and Can't Do Renovating Apartments in Certain Areas of Berlin

Thinking About Dividing an Apartment Block into Condos in Berlin? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Berlin Mitte in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2017

The borough or district of “Mitte“ in its current form was shaped by the administrative reform of 2001. It is made up by three former independent districts. “Mitte” which is the historic origin of Berlin, government and cultural centre and part of former East Berlin, Wedding and Tiergarten which were previously part of West Berlin. Especially Berliners will still make this differentiation, especially when looking for a new home. Just comparing the average rents, the old boundaries are still visible but so is the push of higher rents from the centre out (on the right in the map below).

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

Mitte has the areas with the highest rents in the city. The basic rent or net rent (excluding utilities and heating) in the top market segment is in the postcode area 10117 around Friedrichstrasse at 20.87 €/m²/month and the highest average rent in the top market segment in the 10178 postcode area at 13.80 €/m²/month.


At the same time the postcode area 10117 around “Unter den Linden” has relatively low rents at 6.02 €/m²/month in the bottom market segment which ranks only at No.119 looking at the entire city.

The table below shows the full coverage of the district. It also provides detailed information of the income structure (purchasing power) of the households in relation to the average housing cost in the area including ancillary costs (heating and utilities etc.) paid to the landlord. Directly paid cost like electricity, telephone etc. are not included.

Source: Housing Market Report Berlin 2017 with Housing Cost Atlas, BerlinHyp + CBRE

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Highest rent increases in Berlin's peripheral districts in 2014

The willingness to pay higher rents has reached its limits in the central districts of Berlin, e.g. in Mitte the average rent is above 10 €/m² (net rent per month).

This has an effect on areas in North Moabit, Wedding and Lichtenberg, but also on peripheral city areas such as Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, where the percentage rent increase is far above average. The district of Lichtenberg recorded a 12.2 per cent rent increase in 2014, with a current average asking rent of € 7.98 per square metre.

Detailed data down to post code areas is shown in the Housing Market Report Berlin 2015 which is available on our website. Just follow the link above to get your free copy of the report.