Across much of Germany, finding an affordable, well-located rental has become extremely difficult — and the squeeze falls hardest on people with an immigrant background. In major cities such as Berlin, three- and four-room apartments are increasingly out of reach for average earners. Listings in May 2026 included a 100-square-metre unit for around €4,000 per month (all costs included), while cheaper options often require renovation or lie on the outskirts.
A national shortage of roughly 1.4 million apartments in the lower and middle price segments is one of the main drivers of rising rents. Demand outstrips supply in metropolitan areas and economically strong rural regions alike, pushing prices up and reducing options for newcomers and lower-income households.
Germany remains a nation of renters: more than half the population lives in rental housing. The country’s population was about 83.5 million in 2025, up some 3.7 million since 1990 — growth fueled almost entirely by immigration. Household structures have also changed, with more single-person households, but housing construction and supply have not kept pace with these shifts.
The Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR) devoted its 2026 work to “Room for Development: Housing and Participation in an Immigration Society” and found stark disparities between people with and without migration histories. Newcomers are more likely to live in smaller, often overcrowded apartments and far less likely to own their homes. While more than half of people without a migration history live in owner-occupied housing, fewer than one in three people with a migration background do. New arrivals also spend a larger share of their income on rent.
Structural factors — lower incomes and larger household sizes — help explain part of the gap. Migration-specific obstacles make the search even harder: insecure residence status, limited social networks, and language barriers restrict access to the housing market. Refugees frequently move into socially disadvantaged neighborhoods, where rents are lower or where support networks exist, and many remain in state-run accommodation for lack of alternatives despite having the legal right to move out.
Discrimination compounds these difficulties. The SVR highlights evidence of unequal treatment, including racial discrimination in rental searches. A landmark ruling by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in early 2026 awarded €3,000 to a woman who had been denied a viewing because of her Pakistani name; she demonstrated the discrimination by contacting the same agent using German-sounding names and immediately receiving appointments.
To reduce bias in the search process, the Expert Council recommends anonymizing the first stage of applications — the request for a viewing — so applicants cannot be screened out on the basis of names or other identifying details.
Housing insecurity and homelessness are rising. The number of people without housing reached about 532,000 in 2024, more than double the figure from two years earlier, and non-German citizens are disproportionately affected: among people housed in shelters, 86% did not hold a German passport. The SVR warns that social segregation has increased — people cluster by income and immigrant status more than before — linking poverty and immigration in ways that deepen disadvantage.
The mismatch between where jobs are and where affordable housing exists creates additional problems. Economically strong regions offer employment but little affordable housing; structurally weaker areas have cheaper housing but fewer job and training opportunities. That imbalance prevents many people from moving to where work is available and makes it harder for employers to recruit skilled workers. The SVR notes that international specialists now list help securing housing as an urgent need.
Immigration is heavily urban: nearly 60% of people with an immigrant background live in cities, and in some large cities they make up more than 40% of residents. Concentrations of poverty and immigration in disadvantaged neighborhoods can raise social tensions, but the council emphasizes that high shares of immigrants are not inherently detrimental. What matters for integration are local conditions — quality of schools, childcare and other services, infrastructure, and social networks — which are often lacking in the most affected neighborhoods.
These deficits have long-term consequences, especially for children and young people. Students with immigration backgrounds more often attend schools where they are the majority and which are typically less well resourced, limiting educational advancement and future prospects.
The report sets out several policy directions: expand the housing supply with a focus on social housing; strengthen neighborhoods with targeted funding for childcare, schools and social institutions; and involve employers in solutions by encouraging them to help international hires find housing or to partner with housing providers and projects.
Addressing the housing shortfall and discrimination will require coordinated action across government, employers and civil society. Otherwise, the housing crisis will continue to deepen social and economic divides, and immigrants will remain among the most vulnerable groups in Germany’s rental market.