Renting in Leipzig
A one-bedroom flat in Leipzig costs about $950 a month. Landlords usually ask for a deposit of 2 months of rent, and the average commute to the centre is 24 minutes.
How the search works
Leipzig still has empty flats, which no other city on this list can say. The search here is measured in days rather than months, a viewing is often for you alone, and a landlord may offer a month free to a tenant who signs for two years. It will not last, and prices have risen every year for a decade, but it is still the easiest market in the country.
Plagwitz and Connewitz fill first, the former for its canals and old factories, the latter for its bars. Reudnitz and Gohlis are where the same money buys a balcony and a second bedroom. The south of the city is closer to the lakes, which matters from May to September and not at all otherwise.
Many buildings were renovated in the last decade, some thoroughly and some only on the surface. Ask when the windows and the wiring were last replaced, and look at the cellar. A fresh coat of paint over an old installation is the commonest disappointment here.
Because the market is loose, the usual folder of documents is asked for less strictly. Bring it anyway. The landlords who do not ask for it are sometimes the ones who do not return a deposit either, and a tenant with papers in order is in a better position if it comes to that.