Shared Apartments
Turn Your Apartment Into a Shared Flat
If you’ve purchased a property as an investment, you should think carefully about how and to whom you want to rent the apartment. After all, uninterrupted rental income is what ensures the necessary cash flow and secures your return.
In many cases, renting out your apartment as a shared flat can be a very smart choice. This option offers you, as the landlord, several interesting advantages when it comes to rent development and overall returns. And with shared flats, it’s often the case that even when tenants move out, finding new ones isn’t much effort for you as the landlord.
Of course, there are a few things you absolutely need to keep in mind. If you’re looking into the topic, we’ve put together the basics for you. In the text below, you’ll learn which apartments are suitable, what advantages shared-flat rentals offer, whether your apartment is a good fit, and much more.
- Definition
- Suitability
- Location
- Pros
- Keep In Mind
- Mietvertrag
- Conclusion
- FAQ
What Is a Shared Apartment?
If you’re not familiar with the concept, a shared apartment (or WG in German) is simply a living arrangement where several independent individuals share one home. Each resident has one or more private rooms for sleeping, working, and relaxing. Spaces like the kitchen, bathroom, hallway, and any additional common rooms are shared by all.
The main benefit is straightforward: shared living reduces housing costs. This makes shared apartments especially popular among students and trainees, and they’re also a great way to meet people when moving to a new city. In recent years, shared living has also become more common among working adults and even older residents.
Is My Apartment Suitable for Shared Living?
Before you decide on this rental model, you’ll want to look at whether your apartment actually works for shared living. There’s no universal rule, but the layout is usually the best indicator.
Ideally, each room should be accessible independently—meaning no one has to pass through someone else’s room to reach their own. A layout where all rooms connect to a central hallway is perfect. Your apartment should also have at least two rooms of reasonably similar size, plus either a spacious kitchen or a combination of living room and kitchen. That’s typically enough for a two-person shared apartment.
Uneven room sizes aren’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but they may make finding compatible tenants a bit harder, since residents need to agree on how the rent is divided.
What Makes a Good Location for a Shared Apartment? 🤔
As always, there’s no single perfect answer. But you should consider the city or region your property is in. Demand for shared living is highest among younger people. So if your apartment is in a city with an older population and no university, college, or major employers offering training programs, think carefully about who your potential tenants might be.
In cities—especially university towns—demand is typically strong. With regards to the micro-location within the city, centrally located and well-connected areas are classic go-tos and usually a safe bet. That said, properties on the outskirts aren’t necessarily a bad choice either. Many people actively prefer shared living outside the center, for example to enjoy a shared garden. The target group is smaller, but still very real.
Advantages of Renting to a Shared Apartment
If you purchased your property as an investment, your main focus is likely the return. And this is exactly where shared-apartment rentals can shine.
Because shared apartments split many living costs among residents, you can often charge higher total rent than you could with a single tenant—while the cost per person still remains affordable. This leads to increased rental income without pricing out your tenant base.
Shared apartments often attract younger residents, so turnover tends to be higher. Instead of being a burden, this can actually work to your advantage: residents often find their own replacements when someone moves out. This reduces your workload while still allowing you to approve new tenants. And each turnover gives you an opportunity to adjust the rent in line with current market rates.
What To Keep in Mind When Renting Out a Shared Apartment
If your apartment suits shared living and the location works, and you’ve decided to move ahead, there are a few things to pay attention to. Fortunately, it’s all quite manageable.
There are no special legal rules for renting out a shared apartment—you enter into a regular rental agreement. However, you do need to stay organized. Unlike renting to a single household, residents may move in and out at different times. You must always know exactly who is living in your apartment while still enabling smooth move-ins and move-outs. A well-structured rental agreement lays the groundwork for this.
Choosing the Right Rental Agreement for a Shared Apartment
Even though there are no shared-apartment–specific regulations, the rental setup does differ from traditional leases. There are three main ways to structure your contract.
Shared Apartment With One Main Tenant and Subletting
In this setup, you sign the lease with one resident, who becomes the main tenant. This person is your primary contact—for example, if rent payments are late. The other residents sign sublease agreements with the main tenant. While you don’t have a direct contract with them, you must approve the subletting arrangement.
If the main tenant moves out, the entire lease ends. If the remaining residents want to stay, they’ll need to sign a new contract with you.
The advantage: this arrangement functions much like renting to an individual tenant.
Shared Apartment With Multiple Main Tenants
Another option is to sign a single lease with all residents as joint main tenants. This gives everyone equal rights and responsibilities. For you, it offers more security, since all tenants are jointly liable for the rent. If one tenant falls behind, you can request payment from the others.
Shared-Apartment Rental With Individual Contracts
The third—and often most flexible—option is to sign separate rental agreements with each resident. Each contract grants the tenant exclusive use of their private room plus access to shared areas like the kitchen and bathroom.
This allows tenants to move out independently of one another.
For landlords, this requires a bit more administration, but it comes with a major upside: you can adjust rents more frequently and more easily. Because new contracts are signed whenever someone moves out, rent naturally aligns with the current market. Over time, this leads to higher overall returns.
Is Renting Out Your Property as a Shared Apartment Worth It?
From our perspective, yes—renting out your property as a shared apartment can absolutely be worthwhile. Of course, it depends on the property itself and its location. If the apartment meets the basic requirements and you’re confident there’s enough demand in the area, we’d say: give it a try.
Which contract model you choose depends on your goals and preferences. If you want to increase your returns as efficiently as possible—perhaps to build a small portfolio over time—renting with individual contracts is the most reliable way to ensure regular rent adjustments and strong long-term performance.
