Judgment at the BGH
Court simplifies dismissals on their own
02.10.2025 – 3:58 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A landlord can also terminate a rental agreement if he wants to convert the apartment and then sell. The Federal Court of Justice has now decided.
The Federal Court of Justice has again clarified the rules for termination due to their own use: in its judgment of September 24 (AZ VIII ZR 289/23), which was published on Thursday, the court decided that there is also a termination due to personal needs if the landlord does not want to inhabit the apartment himself, but would like to renovate and sell. The BGH contradicted the decision in a previous instance.
In the present case, a Berlin landlord had terminated the tenant of his apartment in 2021, who had been living there since 2006. As a reason for termination, he indicated. Since he lived in the apartment above the tenant, he intended to connect the two apartments into a larger one. After completing the construction work, he wanted to sell the large apartment. During the construction work, he had lived in the lower of the two apartments.
The tenant refused to leave the apartment because there was no real own use. The landlord had then complained and now kept right in Karlsruhe. The Berlin Regional Court had given the tenant right.
The BGH justified the decision by the fact that a apartment owner was fundamentally entitled to announce a tenancy if it needs the apartment. It is also sufficient if the landlord needs the apartment for the renovation and later sale – he is not obliged to continue inhabit the apartment after the renovation, according to the judges in Karlsruhe. It was also not the task of the court to decide whether the owner really needs the renovation and the proceeds.
