Social preservation areas in Berlin

What applies in social preservation areas

Social preservation areas are intended to preserve the composition of the resident population in a neighbourhood. The legal basis is § 172 para. 1 sentence 1 no. 2 BauGB (Federal Building Code). In Berlin, each area is designated by statutory regulation and published in the Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt (Law and Ordinance Gazette).

Alterations and modernisation

Demolition, alteration and change of use of buildings require a permit (§ 172 para. 1 BauGB). It must be granted if the alteration brings the flat up to the contemporary standard of an average flat (§ 172 para. 4 sentence 3 no. 1 BauGB). The district may refuse projects that go beyond this if they threaten the composition of the resident population.

Division into owner-occupied flats

Until the end of 2030, dividing existing buildings with more than five flats into owner-occupied flats (Wohnungseigentum) requires a permit throughout Berlin (§ 250 BauGB, Berlin conversion regulation, Umwandlungsverordnung), and in preservation areas additionally under § 172 BauGB.

Through its conversion regulation, Berlin has also made the creation of owner-occupied flats in these areas subject to a permit (authorisation in § 172 para. 1 sentence 4 BauGB). Among other things, the permit must be granted if the owner undertakes to sell the flats only to the tenants for seven years (§ 172 para. 4 sentence 3 no. 6 BauGB).

Sale and right of first refusal

The sale itself does not require a permit under § 172 BauGB. However, when a plot in the area is sold, the district generally has a right of first refusal (§ 24 para. 1 sentence 1 no. 4 BauGB), but not when a single owner-occupied flat is bought (§ 24 para. 2 BauGB).

According to the Federal Administrative Court's judgment of 9 November 2021 (4 C 1.20), the right may not be exercised if the plot is built on and used in line with the objectives of the regulation and the building has no deficiencies or defects (§ 26 no. 4 BauGB).

All areas by district

The list shows each designated area with its date of entry into force, last amendment, size and number of addresses in the area. Click on a name to see the area on the map.

Areas with a resolution to designate

Once a district has resolved to designate an area, it can defer applications for projects for up to twelve months (§ 172 para. 2 in conjunction with § 15 para. 1 BauGB). The additional permit requirement for division into owner-occupied flats under § 172 BauGB does not yet apply there, but the city-wide one under § 250 BauGB for buildings with more than five flats does.

According to the street list of the Berliner Mieterverein (as of 05/03/2026), such a resolution exists for 5 areas for which the Geoportal does not yet list a mapped area. They are therefore missing from the map:

• Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg: Ritterstraße
• Spandau: Germersheimer Platz, Freiheit, Rohrdamm/Siemensdamm, Rudolf-Wissell-Großsiedlung

How the map is made

The basis is the area boundaries of the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing and the official address points, both from the Geoportal Berlin. For the address check, we checked which of the 402,756 Berlin addresses have their address point inside an area. This applies to 51,633 addresses.

Where an area borders a street, often only one side of the street lies within it. The map is simplified for display; the address check uses the complete boundaries.

Sources

• Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing: preservation areas under § 172 BauGB (Erhaltungsverordnungsgebiete), Geoportal Berlin, Datenlizenz Deutschland Zero 2.0, retrieved on 16/09/2026
• Geoportal Berlin: Berlin addresses (Adressen Berlin), Datenlizenz Deutschland Zero 2.0, retrieved on 16/09/2026
• Geoportal Berlin: ALKIS Berlin districts and neighbourhoods, Datenlizenz Deutschland Zero 2.0
• Berliner Mieterverein (Berlin Tenants' Association): street list of Berlin's social preservation areas, as of 05/03/2026
• Baugesetzbuch (Federal Building Code), §§ 15, 24, 26, 172 and 250
• Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht), judgment of 9 November 2021, 4 C 1.20

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