A property advertisement should be described in as much detail as possible so that potential tenants and buyers have a clear idea of the property. The number of rooms and their description play a crucial role.
Definition of a room
A room is an enclosed part of the apartment. As a rule, rooms have walls, floors, doors and ceilings. The rooms are usually equipped with their own windows, but this is not a must. The individual rooms serve as living and/or lounge areas.
In general it can be said that the rooms include the following rooms:
- Living room
- Bedroom
- Children's room
- Study room
- Dining room
In apartment advertisements, these rooms are often added together and then listed in their total number - such as 1-room apartment or 2-room apartment. Which rooms are involved is usually also discussed in the apartment advertisement.
What doesn't count as a room?
An apartment usually consists not only of different rooms, but also of other rooms. This category includes those rooms that do not explicitly serve residential purposes, such as bathrooms. In addition, the following rooms are not counted as rooms:
- Kitchen
- Bathroom/Shower
- Hallway
- Storage room
- Garage
- Lift shaft
Special case: kitchen-living room
Nowadays, more and more apartments are equipped with a kitchen-living room. This is a kitchen that also serves as a living room and lounge. This is the case, for example, if the kitchen is one with the living or dining room. In advertisements, kitchen-living rooms are counted as “ordinary” rooms and therefore counted as part of the total number of rooms. It is not uncommon for these to be listed not as a “whole” room but as “half” of the room.
Whole rooms and half rooms
In some apartment advertisements, rooms are divided into “whole” and “half” rooms. This includes not only kitchen-living rooms, but also smaller, ordinary rooms such as the bedroom or dining room. The decisive factor here is the respective room size:
- whole room: over 10 m²
- half room: at least 6 m², smaller than 10 m²
- Kitchen-living rooms are often counted as half rooms
The directive regarding “half rooms” was introduced in March 1951 and regulated inDIN 1283, but was repealed in 1980. This is therefore not a valid definition according to tenancy law, but rather a colloquial term for small rooms. Accordingly, it does not offer any reliable guidance, but it is still common practice in apartment advertisements.
