The ApartmentAllianz Berlin (AAB), the interest group of providers of furnished apartments in Berlin, presents facts instead of fictions with the study – How many holiday apartments are there really in Berlin? for the first time, it presents well-founded figures on the Berlin holiday apartment market. The core results: In total, there are around 6,000 holiday apartments in Berlin that meet the definition of a holiday apartment. This means that the rental is for less than 90 days at a time and it is a self-contained unit. For this purpose, various sources such as the analysis tool Inside Airbnb were evaluated, but also inquiries in the Berlin state parliament. If you put the number of 6,000 in relation to the total number of apartments in Berlin of 2.01 million euros, you get a holiday apartment share of 0.29 percent.
Romana Wolfram, Chairwoman of Apartment Allianz Berlin e.V., comments: “It is important to us to create transparency about the market for holiday apartments. There are many false and far too high figures circulating about holiday apartments in Berlin. We have intensively evaluated all available sources and thus come to the number of 6,000 apartments.”
In the political debate, other issues such as renting out individual rooms in larger apartments or renting out one’s own main residence at short notice are often mixed with holiday apartments. “But this is wrong, because the facts are different. The topic of holiday apartments is complex and must be viewed in a differentiated way,” explains Wolfram.
Stephan la Barré, Deputy Chairman of Apartment Allianz Berlin e.V., adds: “The bottom line is that only a vanishingly small proportion of all Berlin apartments are holiday apartments. According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization, this order of magnitude has no effect on the rental market of the city as a whole.”
Holiday apartments create jobs and added value.
At the same time, holiday apartments are an important economic factor within the city. La Barré says: “The providers of holiday homes create jobs. In Berlin, they represent a market turnover of 141 million euros p.a. and a value added – direct and indirect – of 438 million euros. Around 6,400 employees depend on the holiday apartments – directly and indirectly – and VAT payments of 72 million euros and wage tax payments of 51 million euros p.a. are also made.” The AAB study also wants to dispel the prejudice that there are many holiday apartments in Berlin that are not registered by the Berlin administration. “We can’t confirm that in any way,” says Romana Wolfram. “Of the approximately 6,000 vacation rentals, only 31 are without a license or registration number. That corresponds to just 0.41 percent.”
Important role within the overall accommodation offer.
With the study, Apartment Allianz would like to emphasise the importance of the holiday apartment segment for the accommodation offer in Berlin. Wolfram says: “Holiday apartments are an important facet within the tourist accommodation offer. They are an important place to stay for families, but also for employees of cultural institutions with temporary commitments. For example, I know cases where dancers from the Friedrichstadtpalast or singers from an opera prefer to stay in holiday apartments.”
Holiday apartments are cheaper for families.
Another advantage of holiday apartments: The price level is usually cheaper than for other types of accommodation. La Barré says: “A family of four has to rent two hotel rooms for one night. In 2024, an average cost of 272 euros per night was incurred in Berlin. For a two-bedroom holiday apartment, it is 176 euros per night. The family saves around 30 percent as a result. This does not take into account the advantage that the family can cook in the holiday apartment, which is not possible in the hotel.”
The study can be downloaded at the following LINK .
