Hesse Wants Rent Caps in 71 Towns — but Its Own Eviction Law Is Sitting Unused
Published on 09/24/2026 at 08:11 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Hesse's current rent-control ordinance expires in November 2026, and the state's economics ministry has now put a draft replacement on the table. As reported on 24 September 2026, the proposal would stretch tenant protections from 49 municipalities with strained housing markets to 71.
What the draft would change
On re-letting, landlords would be barred from charging more than ten percent above the local comparative rent. Newly built flats completed after 1 October 2014 stay exempt, as do units that have undergone comprehensive modernisation.
For sitting tenancies, the draft lowers the cap on increases: rents could rise by no more than 15 percent within three years, down from the current 20 percent threshold, and never beyond the local comparative rent. That limit, previously confined to 49 municipalities, would become binding across the 71 named communities.
The proposal also shortens the lock-out period after a rental building is converted to owner-occupied flats and then sold — from eight years to six. Municipalities would additionally gain a special right of first refusal over certain undeveloped or derelict plots, letting them steer development toward housing under defined conditions.
A court ruling hangs over the plan
The ordinance now in force dates from November 2020 and covered 49 municipalities. Its rent brake lapsed on schedule in November 2025 and the state government extended it by one year — an extension that ran into trouble in June 2026, when the Frankfurt district court ruled it invalid. The court found that Hesse had leaned on outdated data from 2014 to 2019 to justify the measure, even though fresher market figures were already available.
The vacancy law nobody is using
Hesse has had a vacant-housing statute on the books since November 2025, meant to let municipalities take administrative action against homes deliberately withheld from the market. According to the FDP parliamentary group, no Hessian city has applied it so far.
Housing minister Kaweh Mansoori confirmed in reports dated 22 September 2026 that roughly a year after the law passed, not a single Hessian municipality had adopted or brought into force a vacancy by-law. A state-wide overview of empty housing is also still missing.
Frankfurt illustrates the gap: around 4,600 flats there have stood empty for more than twelve months. The city is preparing its own by-law and intends to get it moving before the end of 2026. The rules foresee fines of up to 500,000 euros for speculative vacancy.
