Who Provides the Kitchen: Landlord's Job or Tenant's?

If you come from a country where a fitted kitchen is standard equipment in a rental apartment, your first apartment viewing in Germany often comes as a surprise: bare tiles, a water hookup, a cutout for the stove, but no kitchen. That's simply the norm across much of Germany.

Why so many apartments are rented without a kitchen

There's no nationwide legal requirement to equip a rental apartment with a fitted kitchen. Legally, it's enough for the necessary hookups for water, electricity, and possibly gas to be present. A kitchen included in the lease is also a financial risk for landlords: anything already in the apartment at move-in and provided by the landlord counts as part of the rental, which means the landlord then has to handle its upkeep too. One exception is Berlin, where a basic kitchen or kitchenette counts as minimum equipment that must be provided.

What applies if a kitchen is already there

If the new tenant takes over an already-installed kitchen from the previous tenant, or the landlord provides one, the legal situation changes: the landlord then has to cover repairs, and if an appliance can no longer be repaired, its replacement too, for example a broken stove. If the apartment was handed over unrenovated, the tenant also doesn't have to renovate at move-out, as long as that unrenovated condition was documented at move-in.

What this means for your initial furnishing

Without an existing kitchen, extra costs come up for a stove, fridge, and often a complete fitted kitchen, costs that many first-apartment budget calculations overlook. If you're viewing an apartment with no kitchen, it's worth clarifying before signing whether an existing kitchen can be taken over from the previous tenant, often for a transfer fee that's negotiated separately with the landlord.

Our first apartment cost guide has the full breakdown of first-apartment costs including initial furnishing, and our job center furniture grant guide covers financial support if you receive Bürgergeld.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the landlord have to provide a kitchen?

In most German states, no; it's enough for water, electricity, and gas hookups to be present. Berlin is an exception, with a minimum-equipment requirement.

Who repairs a kitchen that comes with the apartment?

The landlord, if the kitchen was already there at move-in and included in the rental. For a kitchen the tenant brought themselves, upkeep is the tenant's responsibility.