While a number of studies explored the patterns and experiences of informality in the Global South, the conditions of informal housing in the Global North have received far less attention. The attempt of this study is to address this gap in research, focusing on the lived experiences of people participating in the informal housing market in Berlin. Our study, based on thirty-eight interviews, focused mostly on informal, temporary sublets and looked into how the precarity and insecurity of living in informality affect well-being, while also hindering subletters from cultivating a sense of stability.  Living in temporary sublets is a common solution for those seeking accommodation in Berlin’s inaccessible housing market. As a result, subletters move into pre-established apartments, requiring them to adapt to existing material conditions and follow the rules set by head-tenants or current subletters. The spatial order imposed by the head-tenants often prevents subletters from making changes to their temporary homes. A recurring challenge is the need to live among the belongings of strangers, which limits space for personal items and forces subletters to care for objects that aren’t theirs. The imposed character of the environment, filled with items that don’t meet the subletters’ needs or aesthetic preferences,  hinders their ability to cultivate a sense of belonging.   The semi-formal or informal nature of sublets makes subtenants vulnerable to eviction or financial exploitation, fostering mistrust in others and insecurity about their housing situation. The alienating environment of the apartment further reinforces the recognition of their housing's temporary nature and the instability of their situation. In other words, tenants live with the constant knowledge that they will have to move again and won’t be able to settle into a stable housing situation in the foreseeable future. These conditions, through disrupting a sense of stability, discourage emotional or physical investment in the occupied space. As a result, subletters often struggle to attribute meaning to their living spaces, leading to long-term effects on their routines and well-being.