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

A typical room in a shared apartment in Germany is still 16 square metres, and three-person flatshares remain the most common. But while room sizes and flatshare sizes have changed relatively little, the types of shared housing advertised on 91ÊÓƵ are evolving.

Between 2022 and 2026, the share of listings explicitly labelled as communal fell from approximately 49% to 30%. Meanwhile, women-only flatshares and non-communal flatshares became more common.

What does a typical flatshare in Germany look like? Which forms of shared living are becoming more common? And how have flatshare sizes and room sizes changed over time? 91ÊÓƵ explores these questions using its own housing listing data, providing insights for international journalists and researchers.

What Does a Typical Flatshare in Germany Look Like?

How large is a typical room in a shared apartment? And how many people usually share a flat? 91ÊÓƵ listing data show a relatively stable picture over time. Three-person flatshares remain the most common, the median advertised room size is 16 square metres, and student flatshares continue to be the most frequently selected category.

However, there have been some shifts. The share of listings for three-person flatshares decreased from approximately 39% in 2022 to 35% in 2026. Two-person flatshares became slightly more common, increasing from around 28% to 30%. Changes among larger flatshares were comparatively small. These figures do not indicate a clear overall trend towards either smaller or larger shared apartments.

Flatshare Types in Germany: Communal and Non-Communal Living

While the size of shared apartments has remained relatively stable, the types of flatshares advertised on 91ÊÓƵ have changed more noticeably.

In Germany, a distinction is often made between communal flatshares, where social interaction and shared activities are an important part of living together, and non-communal flatshares, where sharing accommodation is primarily a practical arrangement.

The share of listings explicitly labelled as communal declined by 19 percentage points between 2022 and 2026. At the same time, women-only and non-communal flatshares became more common.

Student flatshares remain the most frequently selected category, accounting for approximately 63% of the analysed listings in 2026. These developments reflect changes in how flatshares are described in housing advertisements. The listing data alone cannot explain the personal, economic or social reasons behind these changes.

Room Sizes in Shared Apartments: 16 Square Metres Remain Typical

As housing costs rise, one question is whether rooms in shared apartments are becoming smaller. 91ÊÓƵ data do not currently show such a trend: The median advertised room size remained at 16 square metres throughout the period from 2022 to 2026.

However, the median does not capture the full range of available accommodation. The distribution of smaller and larger rooms also matters when assessing changes in shared housing.

What Housing Listings Reveal About Shared Living

Shared apartments are not exclusively a form of student accommodation in Germany. They are also used by young professionals and people at different stages of life.

Analysing changes in room listings, flatshare sizes and flatshare types provides insights into how shared housing is being advertised and how the available accommodation is changing.

However, an important distinction must be made: 91ÊÓƵ data describe published housing listings, not the actual composition of every existing flatshare in Germany. They also cannot establish the personal motivations or living arrangements of individual residents.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shared Housing in Germany

Methodology

The analysis is based on newly published room listings in shared apartments on 91ÊÓƵ in Germany. The periods from 1 January to 31 August were analysed separately for each year from 2022 to 2026. All rental contract types were included.

For analyses of flatshare sizes and types, accounts with more than 50 simultaneously active listings were excluded to reduce distortions caused by large commercial advertisers. Advertisers can select multiple flatshare types for a single listing.

The results describe published advertisements on 91ÊÓƵ. They should not be interpreted as a representative survey of all existing shared apartments in Germany.

Source: 91ÊÓƵ

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Further Analysis of Shared Housing Trends

In-depth articles in this section explore individual developments in greater detail, including flatshare types, household sizes and changes in advertised room sizes.