In short
- Request the flat with „Vermietungsanfrage“ on its page at berlinovo.de: your name, your email and how many people move in. You need no account.
- Answer the income question, in German: „Ja“ if your household's net income a month is above the sum it names, or if an agency such as the Jobcenter covers the costs.
- The receipt „Formularbestätigung“ asks nothing of you. Its link to app.wohnungshelden.de withdraws your request.
- Wait for berlinovo. There is no waiting list. Among applicants who are equally suitable, chance decides.
- Your documents for the contract: three proofs of income, your ID, proof that you owe no rent, a SCHUFA report and, if you hold one, a residence permit valid for 12 more months.
- The offer binds no one until the contract is signed. Most flats' pages name the deposit and the shortest lease.
Sources: berlinovo, frequently asked questions · berlinovo's flat pages and request forms, November 2026 · berlinovo's email to an applicant, October 2026 · Senate answer 19/26291
1. The request
berlinovo lists its flats on berlinovo.de and, since February 2026, on inberlinwohnen.de, the site that the seven state-owned housing companies share. It often lists a flat months ahead: on 8 November, flats free from February 2027 were already online.
The button „Vermietungsanfrage“ on a flat's page opens berlinovo's form at app.wohnungshelden.de. It asks for your name, your email address and how many people move in, adults and children. Then come a few questions in German, below. You need no account.
Sources: berlinovo, flat search · berlinovo's flat pages and request forms, November 2026 · inberlinwohnen.de, Wohnungsfinder · inberlinwohnen.de's email to its users, February 2026
2. The income question
Every form asks it, in German: „Stehen Ihnen mehr als … an monatlichem Netto-Haushaltseinkommen zur Verfügung oder liegt eine Kostenübernahme z. B. durch ein JobCenter vor?“
In English: is your household's net income more than the sum it names, each month, or does an agency such as the Jobcenter cover the costs? Answer „Ja“ if either is true, „Nein“ if neither is.
The sum is the flat's own, worked out from its cold rent: for a flat of €484 cold, the form asked about €1,613. berlinovo's own advice is a household net income of at least three times the cold rent.
Sources: berlinovo's request forms, November 2026 · berlinovo, frequently asked questions
3. The receipt
After your request, an email comes from no-reply@berlinovo.de with the subject „Formularbestätigung - Immobilienanfrage …“ and the flat's object number (Objektnummer). It thanks you, says berlinovo will get back to you, and repeats the flat's address, cold rent, size and rooms.
There is nothing to confirm and nothing to fill in. Its link to app.wohnungshelden.de, under „Sie haben kein Interesse mehr an diesem Objekt?“, withdraws your request: tap it only if you no longer want the flat. Another link shows the flat on ImmoScout24.
That's unlike HOWOGE, whose first email holds a link you must tap (our HOWOGE guide).
Source: berlinovo's email to an applicant, October 2026
4. Waiting for berlinovo
berlinovo keeps no register of flat seekers, so there is no waiting list to join: each request is for one flat.
For berlinovo and Berlin's other state-owned companies, the Senate says that among applicants who are equally suitable and equally entitled, chance decides. Groups with special needs and hardship cases get support under the companies' agreement with the Land Berlin.
How many people move in counts too, also for a flat that needs no WBS.
berlinovo says it will get back to you. It names no time for that, and doesn't say whether it writes when it picks someone else.
Sources: Senate answer 19/26291 · berlinovo, frequently asked questions · berlinovo's email to an applicant, October 2026
5. The documents
For the contract berlinovo asks for:
- your last three proofs of income, such as payslips, a pension, BAföG or a benefits notice;
- your ID (Personalausweis);
- proof that you pay your rent, such as a letter from your current landlord saying you owe none (Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung);
- a current, positive SCHUFA report.
If you live with your parents, a letter from them and their ID; if you live in a home you own, a copy of the land register entry.
berlinovo advises asking your landlord for the Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung early, so it doesn't hold you up, and having every document ready before you ask for a flat: „Seien Sie schneller als die Anderen!“ (be quicker than the others).
The request form adds a note in German: a residence permit, if you hold one, is shown before the contract is signed and must be valid for at least 12 more months.
What a landlord may ask for, and when, is in our guide Applying for a flat.
Sources: berlinovo, frequently asked questions · berlinovo's request forms, November 2026
6. The offer and the contract
An offer from berlinovo is not binding, and complete documents give no right to a contract.
Each flat's page names its terms. On most of those we read, the deposit is three months' cold rent (3 Nettokaltmieten Kaution) and the lease runs at least a year (Mindestmietdauer 1 Jahr); some also ask for a positive SCHUFA report. Every one says „provisionsfrei“: berlinovo charges no commission.
Sources: berlinovo, frequently asked questions · berlinovo's flat pages, November 2026
Flats that need a WBS, and senior houses
A flat that needs a WBS says so in its title, such as „Nur mit WBS 100-140 und dem Hinweis "mit besonderem Wohnbedarf"“. Its form then asks whether you have that WBS, until when it is valid and for how many rooms.
For a subsidised flat, the WBS sets how large it may be: 50 m² and one room for one person, 65 m² and two rooms for two, 80 m² and three rooms for three, 95 m² and four rooms for four, and 15 m² and one room more for each further person.
In a senior house (Seniorenwohnhaus) the form asks whether you are 55 or older and, if you are, your date of birth.
Not sure whether you'd get a WBS? Our WBS calculator works it out in a minute.
Sources: berlinovo's flat pages and request forms, November 2026 · berlinovo, frequently asked questions
Furnished apartments
Besides its flats, berlinovo lets furnished apartments, each kind to its own group, through a request form of their own („Mietanfrage“):
- Students (Studierende): for the length of your studies, at most 42 months in a first degree or 24 in a master's, and at least six months.
- Trainees (Auszubildende): for the length of the training; berlinovo extends none beyond it.
- Fixed-term stays (Central Home): only for people who can show they need a home for a limited time, with the reason given in the form, for at most 12 months.
- Staff of Berlin's state companies and administration (Beschäftigtenwohnen): only with an employment contract there. The lease has no end date, and no notice is possible in its first year.
The students' and the trainees' forms ask for files with the request itself: the certificate of enrolment or the training contract, an ID or passport (name, address, date of birth and validity; the rest may be blacked out), and proof of income or a guarantee. Have them ready as files before you start.
FlatStrike's app lists berlinovo's flats, not these apartments.
Sources: berlinovo, apartments · student apartment · trainee apartment · Central Home apartment · FAQ Hauptstadtwohnen · FAQ Beschäftigtenwohnen · berlinovo's request forms, November 2026
Is it really berlinovo?
berlinovo belongs to the Land Berlin: it is one of the city's seven state-owned housing companies, and since February 2026 its flats are on their shared site, inberlinwohnen.de, too.
A genuine request goes through the button on berlinovo.de, which opens a form at app.wohnungshelden.de, and berlinovo's email after a request comes from no-reply@berlinovo.de. Its flats' pages say „provisionsfrei“: berlinovo charges no commission.
berlinovo has warned its tenants of a letter in its name, dated 21 May 2024, that gave a new bank account. Its account had not changed.
Sources: inberlinwohnen.de's email to its users, February 2026 · inberlinwohnen.de, Wohnungsfinder · berlinovo's email to an applicant, October 2026 · berlinovo, warning about a fake letter
Questions people ask about berlinovo
Does berlinovo ask for a SCHUFA report?
Yes: for the lease of a flat, berlinovo asks for a current, positive SCHUFA report, and some of its flats' pages say „positive Schufa und Bonität vorausgesetzt“ (a positive SCHUFA and creditworthiness required). Its pages name no exception for a negative entry (more on this).
Do berlinovo's flats need a WBS?
Only a subsidised flat, and it says so in its title, such as „Nur mit WBS 100-140 …“. Its form then asks whether you have that WBS; you send the WBS itself only when berlinovo asks for it (more on this).
Does applying to berlinovo go through Wohnungshelden?
Yes: the button „Vermietungsanfrage“ on a flat's page opens berlinovo's form at app.wohnungshelden.de. You need no account: the form asks for your name, your email address and how many people move in, and asks the income question (more on this).
How long does berlinovo take to answer?
berlinovo names no time. Its page of frequently asked questions says „Wir setzen uns dann schnellstmöglich mit Ihnen in Verbindung“ (we'll get in touch with you as soon as possible), and it doesn't say whether it writes when it picks someone else (more on this).
What happens after a request to berlinovo?
After your request comes the email „Formularbestätigung“ from no-reply@berlinovo.de: it asks nothing of you, and its link to app.wohnungshelden.de withdraws your request. Then you wait for berlinovo; for the lease it needs your documents, and even complete documents give no right to a contract (more on this).
How do I apply for a student or trainee apartment?
With „Mietanfrage“ on the apartment's page at berlinovo.de. Its form asks for files with the request itself: the certificate of enrolment or the training contract, an ID or passport, and proof of income or a guarantee (more on this).
Sources: berlinovo, frequently asked questions · berlinovo, flat search · berlinovo's flat pages and request forms, November 2026 · berlinovo's email to an applicant, October 2026 · berlinovo, apartments · student apartment · trainee apartment
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