Enforcement of the misappropriation statute

No. If, for example, less than 50 per cent of the living space is used as an office and the remaining living space is otherwise occupied as normal, this does not constitute a change of use of residential property.
This also applies in the case of use as a holiday let (see below).

Permits from the local building committee, the landlord or under commercial law may also be required.
You may also be required to notify the tax office.

Yes, unauthorised change of use of residential property constitutes an administrative offence.
In accordance with Article 5 of the Act on the Prohibition of the Misuse of Residential Property, in conjunction with Section 14 of the Statutes of the City of Munich on the Prohibition of the Misuse of Residential Property, it is an administrative offence anyone who, without the necessary authorisation, uses or makes residential property available for purposes other than residential ones. These administrative offences may be punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 euros per offence.

There are several possibilities:

• Once an application has been submitted, the authorities will assess whether the conditions for granting (where applicable, retrospective) authorisation for the change of use are met. Following this assessment, authorisation will be granted – or refused.
• An appeal may be lodged against the rejection of the application.
• If no application has been submitted, the authorities will assess whether, in the specific circumstances, the property is being used for a purpose other than residential. If this is the case, the authorities will approach the party concerned and first explain the legal situation.
• As a last resort, the authority is authorised to issue an order to prevent the misuse of residential property. Legal action may also be taken against this order.

The City of Munich has no influence over the duration of legal proceedings.

There may be several reasons for this:

• It may be that an investigation has revealed that no misuse of premises has taken place, or that it has been authorised.
• Another possibility is that the premises do not constitute residential accommodation at all under the law on misuse of property.
• Another possibility is that the administrative or court proceedings have not yet been concluded.

Please understand that, for data protection reasons, we are unable to provide any information on specific individual cases.

The above information is of a general nature.

Should you have any further questions, you can obtain more detailed information by calling the numbers listed here (see Contact).

You can also arrange an appointment there for a personal consultation.

Under the law on misuse of property, a holiday let is defined as a flat or house that is not regularly and permanently occupied, but is instead let out for short periods for the purpose of accommodating guests.
This also includes letting accommodation to people staying in Munich for the purpose of medical treatment.

In future, any flat advertised as a holiday let on an online portal must first be registered online with the Social Services Department. The Social Services Department will then issue a property-specific registration number, which must be included in the relevant online advert.

However, there is currently no registration procedure in Munich, and therefore no obligation to register holiday let properties. For such a regulation to come into force, a corresponding amendment to the city’s By-law on the Misuse of Residential Property (ZeS) is required.

Preparations are currently underway for the amendment to the by-law and the launch of the IT portal for the registration of holiday lettings.

The Social Affairs Department will provide information in good time regarding the exact date of the introduction of the registration requirement and the relevant procedures.

Further information on this topic can be found in the information sheet on the registration procedure for short-term lettings in Munich (PDF).

Renting out residential property as a holiday let does not automatically constitute a change of use requiring authorisation.
The following – non-exhaustive – list of examples of holiday let offers within the Munich city limits does not constitute a breach of the law on change of use:

1. Holiday let offers in individual rooms of one’s own flat
   In a 90-square-metre family flat occupied permanently by the owner, only the former children’s bedroom – which has become vacant – measuring 10 square metres is occasionally let to guests for holiday purposes. Guests share the bathroom and kitchen during their stay.
2. Offering the entire flat as a holiday let whilst on one’s own holiday or during other periods of absence
   During one’s own holiday or other periods of absence, one’s ‘own’ flat or ‘own’ house may be offered as a holiday let for up to a TOTAL of 8 weeks ( = 56 calendar days, which may be spread over several shorter periods) in a calendar year. Otherwise, the flat or house is occupied by the owner in the usual way.

It is prohibited to let a flat or house within the city limits of Munich permanently and exclusively as a holiday let.
This deprives the housing market of valuable living space.

Permits from the landlord’s local building committee or permits under commercial law may also be required. There may also be a duty to provide information to the tax office.

To clarify your specific circumstances, we recommend contacting the Holiday Accommodation Team at ferienwohnungen.soz@muenchen.de. They will be able to provide you with information on the legal situation in your particular case.

If a property stands vacant even though it could actually be occupied, this deprives the housing market of accommodation in exactly the same way as if the property were, for example, being used as an office.

In principle, a misuse of property is assumed if residential property remains vacant for more than three months without a valid reason.

Not every instance of a property standing vacant for more than three months automatically constitutes an unauthorised misuse of residential property.

Valid reasons for a property remaining vacant for more than three months include, for example,

• if the property is to be sold.
• if the residential property is to be modernised or refurbished and is therefore vacant.
• if, under the law on misuse of residential property, the premises no longer qualify as residential property at all. This may be the case if repairing the premises is economically unfeasible.
• if the ownership situation has not been clarified beyond doubt, for example in the case of disputes over the distribution of an estate.