A home 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 decisive role here.
Definition of a room
A room is an enclosed part of the apartment. As a rule, rooms have walls, floors, doors and ceilings. Usually the rooms are also equipped with their own windows, but this is not a must. The individual rooms serve as living and / or
Common roomIn general, it can be said that the rooms include the following rooms:
- living room
- bedroom
- nursery
- Workspace
- dining room
In apartment advertisements, these rooms are often added up and then listed in their total number - such as a 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 not only consists of different rooms, but also additional ones
from other rooms. This category includes those rooms that are not expressly used for living purposes, such as bathrooms. In addition, the following rooms are not counted as rooms:- kitchen
- Bathroom / shower
- hallway
- Storeroom
- garage
- Elevator shaft
Special case: eat-in kitchen
Nowadays, more and more apartments are equipped with an eat-in kitchen. This is a kitchen that doubles as a living room and lounge. This is the case, for example, when the kitchen is one with the living room or dining room. In advertisements, eat-in kitchens are counted among the "normal" rooms and thus count towards the total number of rooms. It is not uncommon for these to be listed not as a "whole" but as a "half" room.
Whole rooms and half rooms
In
In some apartment advertisements, rooms are divided into "whole" and "half" rooms. This includes not only eat-in kitchens, 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
- Eat-in kitchens are often counted among half the rooms
The guideline with regard to "half a room" was brought into being in March 1951 and regulated in DIN 1283, but was repealed in 1980. It is therefore not a valid definition under tenancy law, but rather a slang term for small rooms. Accordingly, it does not offer a reliable guide, but is still common practice in apartment advertisements.
