Shared Housing in Germany: Trends & Statistics

Shared Housing in Germany: What Stays the Same, What Is Changing?

Three in ten flatshare rooms are advertised for a fixed term – a share that has remained largely stable for years. More noticeable changes can be seen in flatshare types: The proportion of listings labelled "Communal" fell from approximately 49% to 30% between 2022 and 2026. Meanwhile, listings labelled "Female Only" and "Non communal" became more common.

How is shared living in Germany changing? What role do fixed-term room rentals and temporary accommodation play? And how are flatshare sizes and room sizes developing? WG-Gesucht.de explores these questions using its own housing listing data. The findings provide a data source for journalistic research, academic studies and anyone interested in developments in the shared housing market.

Communal Flatshares Decline, Female Only Flatshares Gain Ground

While the size structure of shared apartments has remained relatively stable, flatshare types have changed more noticeably. Particularly striking is the decline in listings labelled "Communal": Their share fell by 19 percentage points between 2022 and 2026. At the same time, listings labelled "Female Only" and "Non communal" became more common.

In Germany, the "Communal" category generally refers to flatshares that place greater emphasis on social interaction and shared activities, while "Non communal" describes flatshares primarily organised around the practical benefits of sharing accommodation. Student flatshares remain the most frequently selected category, accounting for approximately 63% of listings. Overall, the data show shifts in how flatshares are categorised. The personal, economic or social reasons behind these developments cannot be determined from housing advertisements alone.

Three in Ten Flatshare Rooms Are Advertised for a Fixed Term

Anyone looking for a room in a shared apartment in Germany will frequently encounter time-limited offers. Three in ten newly published flatshare room listings on WG-Gesucht.de are advertised as fixed-term rentals. In 2026, 30.0% of listings were fixed-term offers, while 69.8% were advertised as indefinite-term rentals. Overnight accommodation accounted for just 0.2% of listings.

What stands out is how stable this distribution has remained. In 2022, fixed-term listings already accounted for 30.3% of advertised rooms. The share fluctuated only slightly in the following years, reaching its highest level of 31.7% in 2023. The data therefore do not indicate a growing trend towards fixed-term rentals. Such listings remain an established part of the temporary housing market, without having increased substantially as a proportion of the overall offer.

Another difference emerges when looking at furnishing: In 2026, fixed-term flatshare rooms were 26.8 percentage points more likely to be labelled as furnished or partly furnished than indefinite-term listings. For apartments, this difference was sometimes even greater. The share of fixed-term listings and the advertised rental duration also varied depending on the type of accommodation.

A closer look at how flatshare rooms, one-room apartments and larger apartments differ in terms of fixed-term rentals, rental duration and furnishing is provided in our in-depth analysis, "Temporary Housing: How Common, How Long, How Furnished? Comparing Flatshare Rooms and Apartments".

Flatshare Sizes and Room Sizes: What Is Changing – and What Remains Stable

How large are Germany's flatshares and their rooms? The listing data show a largely stable size structure. Three-person flatshares remained the most common in 2026, accounting for approximately 35% of listings, although their share declined from around 39% in 2022. Two-person flatshares became slightly more common, increasing from approximately 28% to 30%.

Room sizes have also changed very little. The median advertised flatshare room size was 16 square metres in most years between 2022 and 2026, rising to 17 square metres only in 2024. The data therefore do not indicate a clear trend towards smaller rooms or a general shift in flatshare sizes.

What Housing Listings Reveal About Shared Living

Shared apartments are not exclusively a form of student accommodation in Germany. They bring together people at different stages of life, from university students and young professionals to others choosing shared living arrangements. Changes in advertised flatshare types, rental types, flatshare sizes and room sizes therefore provide insights into how shared housing is evolving.

WG-Gesucht.de data allow comparisons over time and reveal developments that may not be apparent from individual listings. However, an important distinction must be made: The data show how flatshares advertise and describe their rooms. They do not directly reflect the composition of all existing shared apartments in Germany or the personal motivations of their residents.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shared Housing in Germany

Methodology

The analysis is based on newly published room listings in shared apartments on WG-Gesucht.de in Germany. The period from 1 January to 31 August was analysed separately for each year from 2022 to 2026. All rental types were included.

To reduce distortions caused by large commercial advertisers, accounts that published more than 50 flatshare room listings during the respective analysis period (January to August) were excluded. Multiple flatshare types can be selected for a single listing.

The analysis of rental types distinguishes between the options "unbefristet" (indefinite-term), "befristet" (fixed-term) and "Übernachtung" (overnight accommodation) available on WG-Gesucht.de. The classification is based on the rental type selected in each listing. The figures therefore describe advertised rental arrangements, not rental agreements actually signed.

The additional furnishing comparison for 2026 includes flatshare rooms, one-room apartments and apartments with two or more rooms. The labels "furnished" and "partly furnished" are optional. Listings without these labels should therefore not automatically be considered unfurnished.

The data describe published listings on WG-Gesucht.de. They should not be interpreted as a representative survey of all existing shared apartments in Germany.

Source: WG-Gesucht.de

For further housing market analyses, background information and press resources, visit our Press & Newsroom.

Further Analysis of Shared Housing Trends

In-depth articles in this section explore individual developments in greater detail, from different flatshare types and rental arrangements to flatshare sizes and changes in advertised room sizes.