Looking up standard land values free of charge: how it works in every German state

Anyone who wants to know what their property is worth sooner or later comes across the standard land value (Bodenrichtwert). It has an unbeatable advantage: it is official, it is freely accessible, and it costs nothing. You only need to know where to look, and what the figure actually tells you in the end.

What the standard land value is

The standard land value is an average location value for the land itself, stated in euros per square meter. Its legal basis is Section 196 of the German Building Code (BauGB). It is determined not by a portal operator or a real estate agent but by the official valuation committees (Gutachterausschüsse) of the municipalities and districts, based on the actual purchase prices notarized there. It is established at least every two years as of January 1.

That is the real value of this figure: it rests on actual sales, not on asking prices from listings. And it is neutral, because nobody earns money from it.

How to access the value free of charge

Standard land values are expressly meant to be inspected. You do not have to pay for them, and you do not have to give anyone your address. The German states run online portals for this purpose; in many places the system is called BORIS, short for Bodenrichtwertinformationssystem, the standard land value information system.

There is, however, no single federal portal, and that is not an oversight but a consequence of jurisdiction: responsibility lies with the states. Each state therefore has its own site, with its own address, its own map view and its own way of navigating. In practice, proceed as follows:

• Search for the German term Bodenrichtwert plus the name of your state. That takes you to the responsible state portal.
• Or ask the valuation committee of your municipality directly. That is where the people who determined the values work.

Make sure you end up at the official service and not at a commercial provider that passes on the same information in exchange for your contact details. The official information is available with nothing asked in return.

What it does not say about your apartment

Here is the honest assessment missing from many guides: the standard land value values the land, not the building. It says nothing about the year of construction, the condition, the floor plan, the fittings or the state of the common property.

For a condominium it is therefore only one building block, and it works indirectly: through your co-ownership share of the plot. Anyone who infers the value of their apartment from it is doing the wrong math. Determining an apartment's value takes more, above all the structural condition and the prices achievable for comparable apartments.

A look is still worthwhile, because the standard land value shows up wherever money is at stake: it plays a role in the property tax as well as in inheritance and gift tax. Knowing it helps you understand your assessment notice.

How an apartment is actually valued and which methods are used is explained in our guide on property valuation. If you are planning the next step, you will find the process in our guide on selling a property.