Hesse is planning changes to the Tenant Protection Ordinance due to a lack of housing

Hesse's Housing Minister Kaweh Mansoori (SPD) wants to change the Tenant Protection Ordinance. With a view to the housing shortage in the Rhine-Main area, among others, the regulation is intended to help people be able to pay for their apartments. The current regulation expires in November 2026. The draft for the new regulation is now available.

What does the Tenant Protection Ordinance regulate?

With the Tenant Protection Ordinance of November 2020, the Hessian state government identified 49 municipalities with “tight housing markets” in which a rent cap applies. In these communities, the rent for re-letting may be no more than ten percent above the local comparative rent. According to federal law, initial rentals after October 1, 2014 or after comprehensive modernization are excluded. The number of cities and municipalities affected increases to 71 in the draft that has now been presented. Some municipalities were added to the list, others were left out.

For current contracts, rent increases in areas with a tight housing market are capped at a maximum of 15 percent in three years (instead of 20 percent). The upper limit is the local comparative rent. In addition, a notice ban period of six years should apply, which is intended to protect tenants from short-term terminations when converting and selling their apartment. Previously this period was eight years.

The regulation on rent controls in Hesse was limited to five years. It expired in November 2025 - the state of Hesse then extended it for one year.

Why did the Tenant Protection Ordinance recently concern the judiciary?

According to a ruling in June 2026, the Frankfurt district court considered this extension to be ineffective. According to the court, the rent control ended in November 2025, when the old regulation expired. According to the ruling, the regulation should not have been extended because it was limited to five years. An extension should therefore be equated with a new issuance of the regulation and the corresponding requirements.

The district court ruled that the state used data from 2014 to 2019 as the basis for the extension at the end of 2025, although more recent figures were available. But they were not used, according to the court.

Housing Minister Mansoori had defended the one-year extension. This was done to avoid legal uncertainty. Such bridging solutions for legal reasons are not unusual.

What does the Tenant Protection Ordinance have to do with the Vacancy Act?

In November 2025, the state parliament passed a law that is intended to put a stop to speculative vacancies. Since then, municipalities with a tight housing market have had new legal options. Anyone who deliberately withdraws living space from the market will have to expect a fine in the future. Theoretically. Because: So far, no city in Hesse has applied the new law, as according to the FDP state parliamentary group, a report request from their group showed. A vacancy ordinance would be possible in municipalities with a tight housing market.

What do property owners say about the Tenant Protection Ordinance?

“Rental price regulation like the Tenant Protection Ordinance is poison for every housing market,” explained Younes Frank Ehrhardt, managing director of the “Haus & Grund” association. “It deters investors and is therefore a major obstacle to the creation of new living space – especially where it is so urgently needed.”