Hausgeld in Germany: monthly fees for condo owners explained

Hausgeld is the monthly advance every owner of a German flat pays to the owners' association, and the owners set it each year in the budget (section 28(1) WEG). It covers more than a tenant's service charges: the recoverable operating costs alone averaged 2.67 euros per square metre a month in 2024, and management, repairs and the reserve come on top.

That 2.67 figure comes from the operating-cost survey of the German Tenants' Association, based on 2024 bills; with every possible cost item it reaches 3.68 euros. Treat it as the floor for Hausgeld, not the average. Buyers from abroad tend to budget the mortgage and the property tax and forget this line altogether.

What the Hausgeld pays for

It funds everything the common property costs, from the stairwell lighting to the savings for the next roof. Three blocks add up: operating costs (water, waste, communal electricity, lift, building insurance, caretaker, cleaning); the manager's fee, bank charges and repairs; and the contribution to the maintenance reserve, the Erhaltungsrücklage. Costs are split by co-ownership share unless the owners have resolved another key for a given cost (section 16(2)).

Is my Hausgeld too high, or too low?

German law sets no benchmark, and the per-square-metre ranges quoted online say little about a particular building. A new build with a lift and underground garage costs more to run than a walk-up from 1900, and a building whose roof is due in five years needs a bigger reserve than one that was just renovated. Ask the seller for three documents instead: the current budget (Wirtschaftsplan), the last annual statement (Jahresabrechnung) and the asset report (Vermögensbericht) that the manager must produce after every calendar year, showing the reserve balance (section 28(4)). If the Hausgeld barely exceeds the operating costs, the reserve is usually missing, and the bill will come later as a special levy.

Resolved advances are binding until a court sets the resolution aside (section 23(4)). You challenge it and pay anyway.

Letting the flat: the part that stays with you

You may charge a tenant only operating costs, and only if the lease says so (section 556 BGB). The ordinance that lists them expressly excludes management and maintenance costs (section 1(2) BetrKV), so the manager's fee, repairs and the reserve contribution stay with you for good.

The allocation key is less of a problem than it used to be. Unless the lease says otherwise, operating costs of a rented condo are passed on using the association's own key (section 556a(3) BGB). You still cannot simply forward the Hausgeld statement, because the non-recoverable items have to come out first.

Every owner may inspect the association's records, invoices and bank statements included (section 18(4) WEG). If the annual statement is wrong, the resolution approving it can be challenged only within one month.

Ask for the asset report before you read the estate agent's brochure. If you own from abroad, Vecinly shows your Hausgeld balance and the association's entries in your own language; our page on international owners' associations explains how. For the underlying split of costs, see private vs common property in a German WEG, and for associations that do their own books, preparing the Hausgeldabrechnung yourself.

Updated September 2026. This article applies to condominium ownership (WEG) in Germany, is general information only and is not legal or tax advice.