The rent brake in Hesse: what applies until 25 November 2026
Hesse’s tenant-protection ordinance expires at the end of November 2026; a successor has been announced but not yet published.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Maximum rent at the start of the tenancy
no cap
The municipality is in no ordinance on this date.
| Local reference rent | €11.00/m² |
| Reference rent for your floor area | €682 |
| Rent brake | does not apply here |
| Increase cap | 20 % in three years |
Without the rent brake, Sections 556d ff. BGB set no limit at signing. Later increases still follow Section 558 BGB, with the reference rent and the cap.
How we calculateHesse sets the rent brake, the increase cap and the notice ban in one tenant-protection ordinance (Mieterschutzverordnung) of 18 November 2020. An amendment in November 2025 extended it, with an unchanged list, until 25 November 2026. It covers 49 whole municipalities, mostly in the Rhine-Main area: Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Bad Homburg and many towns in the Taunus and the Groß-Gerau and Offenbach districts, plus Marburg and Fuldabrück near Kassel. There, the rent brake applies to new leases, a 15 per cent cap to increases and an eight-year notice ban after conversion into condominiums. According to press reports in September 2026, the state government is preparing a new ordinance for 71 municipalities, with a decision expected in mid-November; it has not been published yet. Take Wiesbaden: with an assumed reference rent of €11.20 for 75 m², a lease signed in October 2026 may cost at most €924.00 a month; a lease of 1 December 2026 would on current law no longer be covered.
The 2020 ordinance and its extension
Since 2020 the Hesse tenant-protection ordinance has combined the area designations under Section 556d(2), Section 558(3) and Section 577a(2) of the Civil Code. Since 2020 it has covered whole municipalities, no longer single districts. The amendment of 12 November 2025, in force since 18 November 2025, only extended its term. Because the end is so close, the rent check watches the date carefully for Hesse: for new leases the signing date, for increases the day the letter arrives.
Wiesbaden as an example
A 75 m² lease at €960 signed in October 2026: with the assumed reference rent of €11.20, the ceiling is €924.00, and the rent is €36.00 above it. A complaint within 30 months recovers the overpayment from the start, even if the ordinance has since expired; the complaint page explains how. An increase from €714 to €840 that arrives before the expiry is capped at €821.10.
Every municipality in the ordinance
| Letter | Count | Municipalities |
|---|---|---|
| B | 5 | Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Bad Soden am Taunus, Bad Vilbel, Biebesheim am Rhein, Bischofsheim |
| D | 3 | Darmstadt, Dietzenbach, Dreieich |
| E | 3 | Egelsbach, Eltville am Rhein, Eschborn |
| F | 4 | Flörsheim am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Friedrichsdorf, Fuldabrück |
| G | 4 | Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, Griesheim, Groß-Gerau, Groß-Zimmern |
| H | 2 | Hainburg, Heusenstamm |
| K | 4 | Kelkheim, Kelsterbach, Kiedrich, Kriftel |
| L | 2 | Langen, Langenselbold |
| M | 4 | Mainhausen, Maintal, Marburg, Mörfelden-Walldorf |
| N | 4 | Nauheim, Neu-Anspach, Neu-Isenburg, Nidderau |
| O | 2 | Obertshausen, Offenbach am Main |
| P | 1 | Pfungstadt |
| R | 4 | Raunheim, Rosbach vor der Höhe, Roßdorf, Rüsselsheim am Main |
| S | 2 | Schwalbach am Taunus, Steinbach |
| U | 1 | Usingen |
| V | 1 | Viernheim |
| W | 3 | Walluf, Weiterstadt, Wiesbaden |