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Average German service charges per square metre (2024 figures)
The DMB benchmark puts typical operating costs at €2.67 per m² per month. How to use the figures properly and where they stop helping.
"Is that a lot?" is the first question after reading a German service-charge statement. The Betriebskostenspiegel published by the German Tenants' Association (Deutscher Mieterbund, DMB) answers it with a single figure per cost type. Read properly it is a useful tool; read carelessly it produces arguments about amounts that are perfectly normal. This guide shows both. It covers residential tenancies in Germany and is not individual legal advice.
What the benchmark is
The DMB evaluates statements from across Germany and publishes national averages per cost type in euros per square metre of living space per month. The evaluation for the 2024 billing year was published in December 2025. The figures are available from the Deutscher Mieterbund.
Read them for what they are: a statistical average, not a price cap and not a legal limit.
The headline figures for 2024
There are two totals. The first is €2.67 per square metre per month and describes the sum of the cost types that actually arise in a typical statement. The second is €3.68 and describes the case where every cost type in the operating-costs ordinance arises — including lift, laundry room, aerial installation and the rest.
For a 70 m² flat the first corresponds to roughly €2,243 a year and the second to roughly €3,091. Compare your statement with whichever figure matches your building's facilities.
The main individual values
Heating and hot water together €1.32; property and liability insurance €0.31; water and drainage together €0.29; building cleaning and pest control €0.21; lift €0.20; property tax €0.18; waste disposal €0.16; garden maintenance €0.15; general electricity €0.06; street cleaning €0.04; chimney sweeping €0.04; other operating costs €0.07.
For the caretaker there are two figures: €0.37 where they do all the work, and €0.21 where cleaning, garden maintenance and winter service are billed separately. Comparing against the wrong one of the two is a common mistake.
Three rules for comparing properly
First, convert your line into euros per square metre per month: divide the annual amount by your living area and by twelve. Only then are the numbers comparable.
Second, combine what the benchmark combines. Water and sewage form one value; heating and hot water form another. Comparing only the water line with €0.29 gives a false result.
Third, only compare what actually arises in your building. A building without a lift has no lift costs — which is why the total of €3.68 is the wrong yardstick for most statements.
A worked example
Your statement shows total costs of €2,760 for a flat of 68 m². Divided by 68 and by twelve, that is €3.38 per square metre per month. Clearly above the typical €2.67, but below the €3.68 that applies when every cost type arises.
The next step is to look at the individual lines. If your building has a lift, a laundry room and a caretaker, most of the deviation is explained. If it does not, concentrate on the two or three largest items: that is where the difference sits. It rarely pays to argue about lines worth a few euros while a main item remains unexplained.
Why the ratio matters more than the difference
To decide whether a question is worth asking, the ratio is more informative than the absolute gap. Garden maintenance at €0.45 against €0.15 is three times the average — striking, even though for a 70 m² flat it is only about €250 a year. A heating line at €1.45 against €1.32 is unremarkable, even though the absolute amount is larger.
So rank your items by their ratio to the benchmark and work down the list. That puts your time where an explanation is most likely to be missing.
What a deviation means
A clear overshoot is a reason to check, not proof of an error. Regional fees differ a great deal: waste and sewage charges can double between two municipalities. Construction year, insulation, facilities and the scope of services also explain differences.
Conversely, a figure below the average does not mean everything is correct. A non-recoverable item remains inadmissible even if the total looks unremarkable.
Economy and the burden of proof
If you believe an item is uneconomically high, the burden of proof is yours. The Federal Court of Justice held that the burden of pleading and proof for a breach of the economy principle lies with the tenant, and that the landlord regularly bears no secondary burden of explanation for the factual basis of the cost item (BGH, judgment of 6 July 2011 – VIII ZR 340/10). The reasoning is that a review usually turns on objective circumstances — published municipal fee schedules, customary rates — which you can establish yourself.
A benchmark figure alone is rarely a sufficient indication. A comparative quote from a local firm, or a marked deviation from the previous year with no visible reason, is more likely to qualify.
The better comparison: your own history
The most informative yardstick is your own previous years. Put three statements side by side and note the amount for each item. A thirty-percent jump in a single line is more concrete than any national average — and you can ask about it specifically.
Common explanations: a new contractor, a changed fee schedule, two invoices in one year, a changed allocation key, or a smaller reference area because of vacancy.
Using the figure in a letter
Keep it factual: "The caretaker item corresponds to €0.68 per square metre per month. The DMB national benchmark for 2024 is €0.37, or €0.21 where cleaning and garden maintenance are billed separately. As both items appear separately in the statement, I ask for an explanation of the scope of services."
That wording alleges no breach of law; it asks for an explanation — which is the effective first step.
The limits of the benchmark
It is not official statistics and rests on statements sent in voluntarily. It does not reflect regional differences and knows nothing about your building. Some cities publish their own, regionally more accurate overviews; a look at those can sharpen the comparison.
Read on and check your own bill
For how individual items are composed, see which heating costs are recoverable and caretaker costs. For raising a question, see objecting to a statement.
The comparison for every item runs automatically in the free check, including the correct combination of water and sewage and the two caretaker figures.