Are shared flats different from shared flats?
If students rent a traditional single-family flat and share the rent, this is generally considered to be a shared flat, which the Broadcasting Contribution Service would not dispute. The type of tenancy agreement is irrelevant. There is only one flat and not a collection of individual flats that are connected to each other via a corridor and with a kitchen and bathroom. If the corridor of such a flat becomes a little straighter and longer and the landlord happens to be a student union or another public organisation, the situation does not really change. Unfortunately, this is not always the case:
The Beitragsservice has developed its own account of the problem, which centres on whether an area is exclusively accessible by a group of students with keys belonging only to them. Quoted here:
"You live in a student hall of residence? If your room is off a generally accessible corridor, it is classed as a flat. It does not matter whether you have your own bathroom or kitchen: The contribution of €18.36 per month must be paid per room.
If several rooms are separated from a generally accessible corridor or stairwell by a separate flat door, this is a shared flat. A monthly fee of 18.36 euros is due per shared flat." (as of 8/2021)
This means that, for the Contribution Service, separation is the core of the definition of a flat, but not the shared use of a bathroom or kitchen. This definition of "flat" is quite spartan and would be inadmissible in social housing. However, § 3 Para. 1 No. 1 RBeitrStV refers to "living or sleeping". "Sleeping" alone is therefore sufficient, so that all other functional features of a normal flat may be missing.