Finding Accommodation

In Germany, apartments for rent are generally unfurnished. In Mannheim, about 80 percent of the apartments offered on the private rental market are unfurnished and only about 20 percent of apartments for rent come fully furnished. That means that furnished apartments are not easy to come by!

For apartments that are unfurnished, except for the kitchen, the monthly rent is on average EUR 100 – EUR 200 cheaper. Furnished apartments are usually smaller, i.e. one- or two-room apartments. Bigger apartments rarely have furniture.

If you plan on moving to Mannheim with your family and require a furnished apartment, your choice will be limited. Therefore, you should start looking for accommodation in Mannheim early on. This holds particularly true if you come with your children. Depending on the school your child or children will attend, you might be required to live in certain areas or neighborhoods of the city near to the respective school so that your options are further limited.

If you are unaccompanied, you can also rent a furnished or unfurnished room in a shared apartment instead of renting an entire apartment. You will have your own bedroom but share the bathroom and kitchen with you roommates. These rooms are usually cheaper than furnished one-room apartments. Living with others may also help you to establish contacts with new people in your new environment. Usually, landlords are interested in renting out their apartments for longer periods. Consequently, the shorter your stay in Mannheim, the harder the search for an apartment may be.

The following platforms may be helpful to you:

• Immobilienscout 24 (one of the most common search platforms in Germany)
• WG gesucht (search can be narrowed to furnished accommodation by using filters)
• Online private accommodation service by the International Office of the University of Mannheim
• Wohnung-Für-Dich (also contains advertisements for furnished accommodation)
• AirBnB Mannheim
• Welcome INN Mannheim (furnished accommodation, fees apply)
• Homecompany (furnished accommodation, fees apply)
• Mannheimer Morgen (newspaper)
• Die Rheinpfalz (newspaper)
• Housing Anywhere
• My next home
• Wohnimmobilien
• Immonet

In Germany, it is common to make a deposit of up to three monthly rent payments upon moving in. It serves a as a guarantee for your landlord that you return the apartment in good condition.

Many search platforms will ask you to indicate your preferred neighborhoods in order to narrow the search. The following neighborhoods are particularly popular among international researchers due to their close proximity to the university: 

1. Innenstadt/ Quadrate / City
2. Schwetzinger Vorstadt
3. Lindenhof
4. Neckarstadt-Ost
5. Oststadt

Due to their top locations, rents in these neighborhoods are usually higher than elsewhere. The following neighborhoods are also worth looking at, since they are well-connected to the city center through public transport: Almenhof, Neuostheim, Feudenheim, Waldhof, Käfertal. During the day, trams run every ten minutes, in the evening, every twenty minutes. At night, you can use taxis and buses to get around.

On the website “Neighborhoods in the City of Mannheim” students of the University of Mannheim present the area they live in and their favorite spots. Perhaps these impressions will also make it easier for you to choose where to live.

The average price level for rents in Mannheim is relatively high compared to other cities or regions in Germany, though not as high as in Frankfurt am Main or Munich, for example. Rents in Mannheim are lower than in Heidelberg, but higher than in Ludwigshafen or the suburbs.

Unfurnished apartments

In Mannheim, the average base rent without utilities is EUR 7,05 per square meter (rent index 2016). The exact rent, however, depends on the apartment’s size, its location within the city, the proximity to public transport, the condition of the apartment and/or the type of furniture.

You can expect to pay about

- EUR 350 – EUR 550 for a one-room apartment (30m²)

- EUR 550 – EUR 850 for a two-room apartment (60m²)

- EUR 800 – EUR 1,100 for a three-room apartment

- EUR 1,100 – EUR 1,500 for a four-room apartment

per month without utilities.

Utilities include payments for heating, water, power and gas according to consumption as well as costs that apply to the entire building and are split between its tenants. The latter include, for example, domestic waste collection, sewage, elevator maintenance (where required), and janitorial or cleaning services. Thus, when comparing apartments, please check if the rent is indicated as including utilities (“Warmmiete”or “warm”) or excluding utilities (“Kaltmiete” or “kalt”) in order to be able to compare rent prices. Also inquire on the exact costs that are included in the utilities if a given apartment is listed as “warm” and which additional payments you will have to make yourself, for example for electricity.

Also be aware that for long-term rents, mostly in unfurnished apartments, the monthly utilities payment is an advance payment. Once a year, the actual consumption and resulting costs are exactly calculated and set off against the utilities payments made in advance. This may result in refunds or, if the consumption was higher than what the utilities payments covered, in additional payments.

If you are renting a furnished apartment, especially for a short period of time, the utilities payment is usually a fixed amount.

Telephone and Internet fees as well as the public broadcasting fee (Rundfunkbeitrag) are not part of the utilities and usually need to be paid separately. However, costs for these services are sometimes included in the rent for furnished apartments.

Most apartments have telephone and Internet connections, however, they are not always activated. In this case, you will have to contact a provider of your choice and have them activate the connection according to your tariff selection. There are numerous options for telephone and Internet plans. Please be aware of the minimum contract duration and the cancellation deadlines before entering a contract.  

Furnished apartments sometimes come with activated phone/Internet services, which can be used right away. If the costs for phone and Internet are not included in the monthly rent payment, the landlord will bill you separately for these services.