Hamburg Local Court, judgement of 16.10.2022, Ref.: 49 C 441/21
Cancellation for personal use only possible if the landlord can assert a concrete interest in the return and use of the rented premises
If a landlord gives notice due to personal use, he or his relatives must actually want to move into the flat within the meaning of Section 573 (1) No. 2 BGB. This must be specifically intended in the near future. Mere possible use without concrete plans is not sufficient.
In this case, a landlord sued for the vacated return of his rented flat in accordance with Sections 546, 573 (1), (2) No. 1 BGB. He had registered his own use of the flat as his son wanted to set up a shared flat there. The Hamburg Local Court dismissed the claim, stating that the son's plans to move into the flat were not yet sufficiently concrete.
Facts of the Case
The plaintiff terminated the tenancy agreement with the defendant in a letter dated 15 December 2020 due to personal use. He stated that his 23-year-old son wanted to set up a shared flat there with friends. The room allocation had already been clarified and the transport connections and residential location were more favourable than in the son's current flat. On 15 July 2021, the defendant objected to the termination. He claimed that the stated reason for the cancellation did not correspond to the plaintiff's intentions, but rather that the cancellation was due to a miscalculation by the plaintiff when purchasing the flat.
Hamburg Local Court:
The court dismissed the action on the grounds that the plaintiff had no claim to eviction and surrender of the flat under §§ 546, 573 para. 1, 2 no. 1 BGB because the plaintiff had not asserted sufficient personal use of the flat.
This requires that the landlord, or a relative within the meaning of Section 573 (2) No. 2 BGB, actually needs the rented premises, taking into account all the circumstances of the individual case. This is only the case if it is intended and planned to use the rented premises for residential purposes in the near future, i.e. if the landlord can demonstrate a concrete interest in using the rented premises in the near future.
By the end of the hearing, the landlord's son had not even decided to move into the flat
In the present case, neither the landlord's son nor his friends, who were to move into the flat with him, had viewed the flat or agreed on the amount of rent by the end of the hearing. In addition, it was not clear whether they really intended to move into the flat in the near future in view of their current living conditions. The landlord was also unable to provide a summonable address for these persons in order to investigate the circumstances in court. Finally, the plaintiff himself said that the potential new tenants did not want to move into the flat after all, but would consider doing so as soon as the flat was no longer occupied.
This was therefore an unauthorised early termination
In these circumstances, the court did not consider that the landlord had sufficient personal use of the rented flat. It stated that at the time of the notice of termination, it should already be clear that the tenant would be moving into the flat. This could not be decided after the tenant had vacated the rented flat. Vague plans by a relative to possibly move into the flat did not constitute a concrete interest in using the flat that would justify a termination for personal use.
Source: Hamburg Local Court
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