Finding accommodation in Germany is often one of the hardest parts of moving here, especially for international students and new expats who are applying from abroad. The market is competitive, landlords often prefer applicants who are already in Germany, and cheap rooms in student cities disappear quickly.
This guide explains how to find an apartment in Germany, where to search for student accommodation and WG rooms, what documents landlords usually expect, how temporary housing works, and how to avoid the common rental scams that target newcomers.
Accommodation in Germany in 2026: start here
Start your housing search as soon as your university admission or job location is clear. DAAD notes that rent is usually the largest part of a student’s monthly budget and that affordable rooms are especially difficult to find in cities such as Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Freiburg and Tübingen.
- For students: apply early to the local Studierendenwerk or Studentenwerk residence hall, then search WG-Gesucht and private listings in parallel.
- For first arrival: book temporary accommodation for the first weeks if you cannot safely sign a long-term contract from abroad.
- For private apartments: prepare a short German message, proof of income or blocked account, ID/passport, enrolment/admission letter, and any landlord references you have.
- For scams: be careful if someone asks for deposit and first rent before a viewing, refuses a call, sends passport photos as “proof”, or claims they will post the keys.
Useful official starting points: DAAD renting a room, the DAAD accommodation finder, and Deutsches Studierendenwerk accommodation advice.
If you are moving to Germany or already living here, use this as a practical accommodation checklist. Whether you need temporary housing, a WG room, student accommodation, or a permanent apartment, the goal is the same: apply early, send complete documents, and avoid rushing into unsafe rental offers. For the wider settling-in picture, read my guide to life in Germany for Indians.
1. What is it like finding accommodation in Germany?
How is it like living in Germany after moving to Germany and How Indians are finding life in Germany. The German economy also makes it a pretty enticing place to live. It has one of the world’s best GDP growth rates and its unemployment rate is one of the lowest in Europe. This makes Germany a popular destination for Expats and the first step to start living in Germany is finding a house or you can also say accommodation.
Germany has an excellent lifestyle for ex-pats. It’s rated as one of the best places to retire abroad with low taxes for pensioners and retirees. And with all that nature to explore nearby, it’s an obvious choice if you’re looking for a place to hike or bike. Germany is a country that has a lot of history, modernity and its own unique culture. If you are considering moving to Germany, read this guide for some helpful tips.
Let’s move on to check what factors should be considered while finding a house in Germany.
2. Factors to consider while finding an apartment in Germany
As I mentioned earlier, Germany is a wealthy, stable and economically powerful nation with an excellent standard of living. The people of Germany are kind and welcoming, which makes it easy to settle down there. An expat’s first choice for accommodation should be an apartment or house rental agreement.
1. Availability of Bus station or Train Station:
The country has a well-developed public transport system, including trains and buses that run regularly to most parts of Germany.
2. Apartments Vs Whole House:
Apartments are usually cheaper than renting a whole house; because this type of accommodation is smaller than a whole house and much more affordable.
3. Deposit, documents and landlord expectations:
Before you apply, prepare your passport or ID, proof of funds or salary, admission/enrolment letter if you are a student, SCHUFA if you already have one, and a short introduction message. Many landlords receive dozens of applications, so incomplete messages are easy to ignore.
4. Furnished or Unfurnished or Semi-furnished:
There are houses that are either furnished, unfurnished, semi-furnished or the last tenant sells you their house items at some cost. For example, kitchen and washing machine for € 1500.
5. Warm Rent or Cold Rent:
Houses under warm rent include the cost of electricity of heater and sometimes the water in the monthly rent. On the other hand, houses under cold rent do not include electricity charges and you will have to pay on top of the monthly rental. You will definitely need a house that has a heater installed in it. Although there are some apartments that come without any heater, let me warn you, its going to be very very cold during winters.
6. Size of the Apartment:
The size of the apartment and the number of rooms in the apartment is also very important because depending on its size, the number of people can live in the apartment. For example, if there is an apartment like 20 sq m, then only one person is eligible to live in such a small apartment. The Rathaus will not allow two people to register for that apartment.
Similarly, if you are travelling with a family (spouse and kids) then you are obliged to take a bigger apartment like 1 Zimmer or 2 Zimmer apartment. I have seen children in Germany have their own rooms, even if they are kids. Despite the fact your kid sleeps with you, you are supposed to have a space for them in the house. Here’s the reason why moving to Germany with family would cost you more than moving alone.
7. Radio tax or broadcasting fee:
In Germany every household generally has to pay the public broadcasting contribution. Sometimes shared flats split it, and in rare cases a furnished or serviced apartment may include it in the rent, but you should not assume that automatically.
8. House Rental Agreement:
Please do read all the points mentioned in your rental agreement and do abide by all the rules and regulations mentioned to avoid getting into any kind of problem.
9. Location of the Apartment:
I always suggest my followers who ask about accommodation to prefer houses that are on the outskirts of the city rather than being in the main city. It’s a bit cost-effective.
3. How to find an apartment in Germany?
The housing rental market in Germany is quite competitive. Finding an apartment in Berlin, for instance, can be tough due to the high demand. Likewise, if you are targeting Munich, the average cost of living in Germany is comparatively more in Munich than in any other city.
To start your search, before moving to Germany, you can go to the homepage of one of the many property providers online. There are websites that offer only apartments for rent and others that offer both apartments and houses for rent so you can find what best fits your needs. You can also find listings on classified websites like Immobilien Scout 24 or eBay Kleinanzeigen.
One of the first steps to take when looking at properties is narrowing down your choices by criteria such as budget, desired location, and a number of rooms. This will make the process easier when you are comparing different properties.
3.1 Finding temporary accommodation after landing in Germany
There are times when you are unable to find an apartment as soon as you land in Germany, however you have to survive on finding a location for a temporary period. The good thing is now websites like Booking.com has started listing apartments along with hotels. So, now you can book a temporary apartment that has a kitchen, bathroom, washing machine and almost every necessary item that you might need to have a great feeling of moving to Germany.
1. Booking.com
No. 1 online booking platform for accommodations around the world, zero booking fees and content in 40 languages. Booking.com is the #1 travel site in terms of Customer Satisfaction by J. D. Power. The site is available 24/7 in 40 languages and has a unique direct long-term relationship with more than 900,000 accommodations.
2. Hotellook
Hotellook.com — a service that helps you find and compare prices on hotels around the world, provided by a leading reservation system. The Hotellook.com project was created in 2013 by a creative team from Russia’s largest ticket meta-search engine, Aviasales.ru.
Today, Hotellook.com offered to put together information on more than 250,000 hotels in 205 countries, working with data from more than 10 online booking systems, such as Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Airbnb, Expedia, and others.
3. Hostelworld
Hostel-focused online booking platform with 36,000 properties in over 179 countries. Hostelworld, the global hostel-focused online booking platform, inspires passionate travellers to see the world, meet new people, and come back with extraordinary stories to tell.
4. Airbnb
Airbnb has become a new way for guests to discover unique stays they might have otherwise missed and this is how it works. One can book stays either for short term to long term. It Includes listings that lie just outside a specified search, to show guests more options.
3.2 Finding a permanent apartment or WG room
A lot of people are asking this question – how do you find an apartment in Germany? The answer is that it depends on where you are looking. Finding a house in Germany (Frankfurt), for instance, you can use classified ads or forums to get a list of available properties.
Depending on the specific requirements, the process can be quite competitive. But if you are willing to compromise your needs for a place to live, there are plenty of options available for a comfortable living in Germany. Beware of scams happening in real estate, try not to pay in advance when the landlord says that he will send the keys to your house via post. Not only this, there are n number of scams going on so, try your best to avoid these scammers and make wise decisions.
Generally, ex-pats either move on a student visa or work visa. This means, that they are travelling alone or with family. Depending on your needs of you, here are the options that you can choose from after moving to Germany.
Most Important Tip- When you create your profile for example on Immobilienscout, fill all the details and draft your message in German language for your application. Most probably you will get faster response.
You can use Deeple to translate your message from English to German
-Eri in Germany
1. Immobilienscout24
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
2. WG Gesucht for Students
- For both students and ex-pats (singles )
3. Immowelt
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
4. Student residence hall – DAAD accommodation finder
- Only for students
5. Wunderflats
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
6. Homelike
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
7. Housing Anywhere
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
8. IamExpat Housing
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
9. eBay Kleinanzeigen
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
10. University Living for students
- Only for students
11. Engel & Völkers
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
12. Von Poll
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
13. Facebook Groups
- For both students and ex-pats (singles and with family)
I hope the above list related to moving to Germany and finding a house in Germany was helpful. You can thank me in the comment box below and share any other relevant website that you find is an addition to the blog post. All the best.
Once you have found an apartment and moved in, your next step is usually city registration. This guide will help: Importance of Registration Certificate (Anmeldebescheinigung).
That was all the information about living in Germany and finding an apartment in Germany. If you find this helpful then share it with the people who are moving to Germany to Study.
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