# Berlin:Salary Extra&Cost of living



## JoLeyne70

Hello,
I was hoping to get some advices&insight about living&Working in Berlin
I 'm considering a potential job offer.I know that I will take a "pay cut" compared to London but that kind of goes together with the high cost of living in London.So Basically I was offered 2500euros gross-.As a single I will need a 1bed flat or could consider a WG for the first month.However I wanted to know if it s usual to negociate on Extras like Health insurance or asking for a company mobile or higher holiday allowance?Also I ve read that you should factor in about 70euros for public transport ,120euros for electricity&heating.What about tv licence and is there a council tax in Berlin?.thanks in advance for your help.


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## ALKB

JoLeyne70 said:


> Hello,
> I was hoping to get some advices&insight about living&Working in Berlin
> I 'm considering a potential job offer.I know that I will take a "pay cut" compared to London but that kind of goes together with the high cost of living in London.So Basically I was offered 2500euros gross-.As a single I will need a 1bed flat or could consider a WG for the first month.However I wanted to know if it s usual to negociate on Extras like Health insurance or asking for a company mobile or higher holiday allowance?Also I ve read that you should factor in about 70euros for public transport ,120euros for electricity&heating.What about tv licence and is there a council tax in Berlin?.thanks in advance for your help.


Health insurance is mandatory and the employer pays half. If you mean private health insurance on top of the statutory insurance, you'd have to ask your employer whether they have anything in place.

Do you need to have a mobile for your job? If yes, ask for it.

Holiday allowance as in more days? Or as in extra pay like a bonus?

A lot of places start you off somewhere between 25 and 30 working days per year (plus public holidays and weekends and such). You can always ask but in my experience a lot of employers have one holiday policy for all.

I remember the days when I had a job that paid a holiday bonus in June and one in December... good old days.

I think you got it about right regarding public transport, utilities (depending on what is installed in your flat - do you cook with gas or electricity, how is your water heated, that sort of thing).

TV License (GEZ) is €17.98 per month.

There is something like council tax but it is the owner of the property who pays it. Your landlord then invoices you on a monthly basis together with other service charges like cleaning of public areas, gardening if applicable, etc.

When looking for flats carefully read and compare the adverts!

There is "Kaltmiete" = cold rent; this is about the same as rent in the UK, additional charges apply

Then there is "Warmmiete" = warm rent; this should include service charges and CAN include heating as well as water, warm water and other things.

Another one: "Gesamtmiete" = total rent; this is the total amount payable to the landlord each month and there should be an indication as to whether this includes heating or not.

Depending on how the flat is heated there might be charges payable to the utility provider for gas and of course electric, broadband, etc.

Deposit for a flat is usually 3 x the cold rent amount, often this can be paid in installments.

Also, we don't count bedrooms but rooms (anything apart from kitchen, bathroom and something like corridors), so if you want a one bedroom flat, you have to look for a two room flat. Please note: by law, only a room that is bigger than 10m2 can be called a room. Any room smaller than that has to be labelled "half a room". That's why you might see adverts for 1.5 room flats or 2.5 room flats. Usually, half a room is still much bigger than a UK "box room".

Look for flats that are "Provisionsfrei" which means you are not renting through some useless real estate agency who will charge you a hideous amount for showing you the flat and bullying you into signing the contract.

Good luck!

I might be going back to Berlin sometime next year, so I am also looking into flat hunting. Again.


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## JoLeyne70

Thank you so much for your most detailed answer!This has cleared some stuff up like 1.5 rooms, "gesamtmiete "that I saw on some ads. I will look for provisionfrei flat. Regarding the holiday, I was thinking about additional days, I will need to ask how much I will start with and how it increases with the length of service.I have another round on interview coming up, I feel more prepared for it.
Thank you again
Good luck to you as well !


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## ALKB

JoLeyne70 said:


> Thank you so much for your most detailed answer!This has cleared some stuff up like 1.5 rooms, "gesamtmiete "that I saw on some ads. I will look for provisionfrei flat. Regarding the holiday, I was thinking about additional days, I will need to ask how much I will start with and how it increases with the length of service.I have another round on interview coming up, I feel more prepared for it.
> Thank you again
> Good luck to you as well !


Thank you 

Another thing when looking for flats: in Germany they don't usually come with curtains or light fixtures unless the previous tenant and you agree that they leave things in. (Beware of "Ablöse"! That's an amount that the previous tenant wants for fitted things he put into the flat and is leaving behind. It also means that he is then rid of the responsibility for said things while you acquire said responsibility.)

German flats tend to be the bare bones.

There might be carpets or laminate flooring or parquet but it could also be some hideous plastic tiling or wooden floorboards painted in the ugliest shade of colour imaginable. 

So you could be finding yourself fitting carpets, stripping floorboards or installing laminate before you can actually move in.

On the upside, flooring is hardly ever part of the rental contract so you are free to change everything as you want it to be. Germans often rent the same flat for years or even decades and they put a lot of effort and money into their homes, just like many people elsewhere would only consider when owning a property.

A good thing is also when an "Einbauküche" (fitted kitchen) is included. Under Berlin rental laws, the only things the landlord is required to provide is a cooker and sink - no fridge or units. Putting in the cheapest kitchen possible would cost around 1500 EUR (depending on size of the kitchen) plus fridge and whatever else you want to put in. Washing machines are hardly ever included but there should be a space for one either in the kitchen or bathroom.


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## Nononymous

Starting out, at 2500 gross, I might look at just renting a bedroom in a shared place, or maybe something small and furnished on a sub-let for six months to a year. So that you have time to find your way around and figure things out. Getting a full-on rental contract (Mietvertrag) and doing the fitting-out with kitchen etc. is a huge amount of work, commitment and expense. It's probably less work just buying a house in the US. So maybe something to delay for a year or so until you know your way round.


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## JoLeyne70

Hi Nononymous,

Happy new Year! I was thinking about joining a WG first and then once I know my way around , looking a getting a small studio. I don t want to overstretch myself and living off on baked beans ;-) anyway still got another round of interview.
Thank you for your advice.


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## ALKB

JoLeyne70 said:


> Hi Nononymous,
> 
> Happy new Year! I was thinking about joining a WG first and then once I know my way around , looking a getting a small studio. I don t want to overstretch myself and living off on baked beans ;-) anyway still got another round of interview.
> Thank you for your advice.


Happy New Year!

Joining a WG at first is a good idea, especially since you might struggle to find baked beans in Berlin 

Good luck with the interview!


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