Hamburg / Rents | Hamburg rent rally picks up speed again

In Hamburg's free housing market, asking rents have risen by a whopping 7.1 percent within a year, following a slight decline of 1.2 percent last year. This is the result of the current study by the geography elective course at Ohmoor High School, which was presented on Tuesday at the Hamburg Tenants' Association. The study has been compiled according to consistent statistical criteria since 1986 and is therefore considered a reliable source.

Anyone looking for an apartment on the open market in Hamburg today will pay an average of €15.62 per square meter when signing a rental agreement, compared to €14.58 in 2023. This includes net rent, of course, so operating, heating, and energy costs are added on top. Under the guidance of their teacher, Christopher Gnann, the 11th-grade students at the high school in the northern district of Niendorf evaluated 3,800 anonymized listings posted on the real estate portal Immowelt. They also considered 170 listings from other platforms.

Housing is most expensive in Hafencity, where landlords charge an average of €29.19 per square meter – 38.9 percent more than the previous year. Rents there have almost doubled compared to 2016, according to the student who studied Hamburg's newest and "incredibly expensive" district. Around 7,000 people currently live in Hafencity, the majority of whom are singles and wealthy couples, including many academics.

"Those who have an apartment stay – those looking for one can hardly find anything affordable anymore."

Rolf Bosse Tenants' Association of Hamburg

Significant price increases can also be seen in the districts of Dulsberg, Osdorf, Billstedt, Sasel, and Tonndorf. People on a tight budget tend to move to Horn, Steilshoop, Wilstorf, and Neuenfelde, where rents are still available for less than €11. Not only do the different neighborhoods vary in price – the range of available apartments also varies considerably. "There's a clear north-south divide," says one student. There are fewer options south of the Elbe, but apartments there are generally cheaper.

"After last year's stagnation, we are now seeing an alarming increase in rents in Hamburg," said Rolf Bosse, chairman of the host tenants' association. The reason for this is the limited availability of affordable housing: "The market is completely empty. Those who have an apartment stay – those looking for one can hardly find anything affordable anymore."

In fact, the students were able to evaluate significantly fewer housing offers compared to previous years – an indicator of a low relocation rate, which is also due to the low vacancy rate of 0.7 percent. "We need more affordable housing, and quickly," Bosse therefore demanded of the Hamburg Senate, also calling on federal policymakers to take action. Suitable instruments include new construction, better protection against eviction, and an effective rent control.

Verena Herfort of the BFW North Regional Association, the housing industry's lobby group, noted that new construction is currently a particular problem. Its members built only 750 new apartments in 2024 in the unfriendly economic environment of the Hanseatic city: "It used to be 5,000 to 6,000 annually." Ulf Schelenz, Managing Director of the Hamburg Property Owners' Association, believes that housing in the Elbe metropolis will become even more expensive: "We have a migration surplus of 12,000 people; the market is getting tighter, and rents are continuing to rise."

Petra Memmler, managing director of the Hamburg regional chapter of the Association of North German Housing Companies, which includes housing cooperatives, said its members are renting out new apartments for an average of €8.70 per square meter. The Ohmoor study is not representative of Hamburg because it only depicts the free housing market, according to the head of what describes itself as the "Association of Landlords with Values." And Peter-Georg Wagner of the IVD real estate agents' association pointed out that "a great many properties are not even advertised on the market," meaning they are let under the table. However, it should be clear that even these apartments are unlikely to be let at bargain prices in a tight rental market like Hamburg's.

Heike Sudmann, housing policy spokesperson for the Left Party in the Hamburg Parliament, explained that the result of rising rents is "great uncertainty, especially among those who fear moving because they simply cannot afford the new rents." The Hamburg Senate must recognize "that we finally need a rent cap," Sudmann said. Because tenants are "not protected from profit-hungry landlords by fine words."