General advice
Most students and doctoral candidates in Munich live in private rooms, shared flats, or their own apartments. Housing in Munich is expensive compared to other German cities. There are also significant differences in rental prices depending on the distance from the city center. A cheaper alternative to the private housing market is living in a student residence run by the Munich Student Union. However, as a result, there is a great deal of demand and usually extremely long waiting lists. Therefore, starting your search for affordable housing early on is a good idea.
Most landlords are interested in long-term tenants. The general rule is: The shorter your stay in Munich, the more difficult it is to find an apartment for rent in the real estate market. Renting an unfurnished apartment from abroad is usually not feasible because landlords want to get to know their tenants in person before concluding an open-ended tenancy agreement.
You should bring the following documents with you when visiting an apartment:
- Information about yourself (CV)
- Copy of your identification document (ID)
- German citizens: Schufa-Auskunft
- Proof of income (Scholarship, work contract, payroll)
We also recommend looking in the suburbs of Munich since housing is often more affordable there than downtown, and there are usually convenient local public transit connections.
Please research the location of your chair/research group ahead of time since many TUM chairs are not located in downtown Munich but in Garching, Freising-Weihenstephan, or other smaller places in the Greater Munich Area. Please also note that individual chairs and research groups are sometimes not located directly on the central premises of the respective TUM School but have their own locations that might be located in a completely different area of the city. Therefore, you should definitely inquire about your exact place of work/research in advance.
The TUM-GS Welcome Office will gladly provide you with information material for your apartment search. You should contact the Welcome Office well before your planned move to Munich. You can also find helpful information and links about student residences and the housing market on the general TUM website regarding accommodation.
Level of rents in Munich
The following tables show which minimum rents you should expect. In the outer areas of Munich, prices for monthly rents start at 500 Euro for a single room. Rooms in a shared apartment are a bit cheaper and start at 350 Euro. Guest doctoral researchers who are looking for short-term renting of furnished apartments will have to pay higher rents.
Please note, in Germany, there are the so-called Kaltmiete ("cold rent") and Warmmiete ("warm rent"). Kaltmiete is the price you pay for the apartment only, whereas Warmmiete includes additional costs like water or heating. Whether Warmmiete includes electricity or internet costs varies widely. Therefore, you should clarify beforehand what is included in the Warmmiete.
Price range: "Kaltmiete" for unfurnished apartments
1-room apartment | from ca. 600 EUR |
2-room apartment | from ca. 900 EUR |
3-room apartment | from ca. 1100 EUR |
4-room apartment | from ca. 1300 EUR |
Price range: "Warmmiete" for furnished apartments
1-room apartment | from ca. 750 EUR |
2-room apartment | from ca. 1100 EUR |
3-room apartmen | from ca. 1500 EUR |
4-room apartmen | from ca. 1700 EUR |
Beware of fraud!
Should you find something much cheaper than average prices, be aware that it could be a scam. Do not transfer the deposit or the first month's rent in advance before making sure that the room you are renting actually exists and before you (or your representative) have viewed the apartment and signed the contract!
Unfortunately, we have had cases in the past where such payments ended up with scammers and were lost.