Ads and private messages on platforms such as wg-gesucht.de and Facebook frequently include conditions such as:
- Regular sexual contact or “poly-fun” / “kink-friendly” living arrangements for a sharply discounted room.
- Daily oral sex or other specific acts as the price of a reduced rent (e.g., 390 € instead of a market 500 €).
- Free or very cheap stays in exchange for sex, sometimes framed as “you wouldn’t be homeless.”
Investigative reporting (VOX undercover pieces, FAZ, Berliner Zeitung, Focus, student media) and personal accounts from Berlin, Freiburg, Munich and other cities show these offers are not isolated. Women report receiving unsolicited sexual propositions while searching for rooms; some feel pressured because legitimate, affordable options are scarce.
Link to the housing shortage
Germany faces a structural shortage of affordable housing. Completions have lagged demand (roughly 200,000–250,000 units completed against estimated needs of 300,000–400,000 per year in recent periods), with particularly acute shortages in large cities. Berlin alone has been cited as short tens or hundreds of thousands of flats; national estimates of missing lower- and middle-priced homes run into the hundreds of thousands or more than a million depending on the study. Rents have risen sharply (double-digit percentage increases in some cities over shorter periods), and a high share of the population rents. Temporary/furnished lettings and other work-arounds further inflate effective prices and reduce secure long-term stock.
In this environment, people desperate for a roof over their heads—students, newcomers, single parents, low-income workers, and especially those already stigmatized (e.g., sex workers)—become easier targets for exploitative “deals.”
Legal situation
Agreements that make sexual acts the consideration for rent are generally regarded as sittenwidrig (contrary to public morals) under § 138 BGB and therefore void from the outset. Sexual services cannot be enforced as a contractual duty. Depending on the circumstances, such offers can also raise issues under anti-discrimination law (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz), and pressure or threats can constitute coercion (Nötigung) or more serious criminal offences. Platforms usually remove explicit ads when reported, but private messaging continues.
Courts have dealt with related cases involving landlords who exploited housing desperation, sometimes escalating to charges of rape, forced prostitution or abuse.
Who is most affected
Young women and female students appear most frequently in reports. Sex workers face compounded problems: stigma makes ordinary rentals hard to obtain, leaving them more exposed to high-rent, low-security arrangements or worse. Migrants, queer and trans people, and those with irregular income are also disproportionately vulnerable.
Bottom line
The phenomenon is a symptom of severe housing scarcity rather than an isolated cultural quirk. When demand massively exceeds affordable supply, power imbalances grow and some landlords or roommates treat sexual access as a form of currency. Legal tools exist to invalidate such “contracts” and prosecute coercion, but prevention ultimately depends on increasing the supply of ordinary, affordable housing and reducing the desperation that makes people susceptible to these offers.
