Applying for housing benefit
Description
You can receive housing benefit as a tenant (so-called rent subsidy) or as an owner of owner-occupied housing (so-called burden subsidy).
Whether and to what extent you receive housing benefit depends on how high your income is and how high your rent or monthly burden is for home ownership. It also plays a role how many people live in your household.
Have your financial situation or your living circumstances changed in the
If the approval period worsens, you can apply for an increase in the housing benefit at any time.
You must notify the housing benefit authority immediately of any changes.
This also applies to changes that may lead to a reduction in housing benefit.
The amount of housing benefit may vary from region to region. The rent or charge is only eligible up to a certain maximum amount. The maximum amounts depend on the local rent level, the so-called rent levels.
Housing benefit is a government subsidy to housing costs designed to allow people with low incomes to live in decent housing.
Housing benefit is available as:
- Rent subsidy for tenants of an apartment or subtenant
- Burdens subsidy for owners of a home or condominium who live in the property themselves
The following are not eligible to apply:
- Single conscripts during basic military service
- Trainees and students who receive vocational training allowance or funding under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) and who run their own household on their own, unless the benefit is paid exclusively as a loan.
- Persons who receive so-called transfer benefits (ALG II, social benefit according to SGB II, benefits of basic security in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity, benefits of assistance for subsistence - social assistance - according to SGB XII, benefits of supplementary assistance for subsistence or other assistance, in an institution or a home that includes subsistence, benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act...)
Whether and to what extent you can claim housing benefit depends on various factors:
- Amount of your income
- Amount of your rent or charge
- Number of household members and their income
Total income
The total income is the sum of the annual incomes of all persons living in the household. Certain amounts and deductions for maintenance payments may be deducted from this.
Rent amount/monthly charge for property
The rent agreed in the rental agreement is taken into account.
The burden on owners is the expenses for debt service and the management of property.
When checking your claim, the gross cold rent will be taken into account. Not included in the rent are, for example,
- Heating costs and
- Cost of hot water
- Remuneration for the provision of a garage or parking space for motor vehicles
- Remuneration for general support services such as the
- mediation of care or care services,
- Domestic care services
- Emergency services
Income of household members
Household members are people who live with you in an apartment. This apartment must be the center of life for each of these people. All household members are taken into account if they are not excluded from housing benefit.
You are excluded from housing benefit if you receive transfer benefits (other social benefits) that already include housing costs.
For example, citizens' allowance or basic security in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity
- Identity card, passport or residence certificate with confirmation of registration
- Lease agreement or the documentation on the cost of the residential property you use, if you are the owner
- current rental receipt (bank statement or proof of payment)
- last change of rent
- Cold water billing
- Proof of income (salary statement, pension notice)
- Decisions on social benefits (e.g. unemployment benefit, short-time working allowance)
The forms required to apply can be found on the website of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
- Application for housing benefit (rent subsidy)
- Application for housing benefit (burden subsidy)
- Explanations of the application for housing benefit (rent subsidy)
- Explanations of the application for housing benefit (burden subsidy)
- Investment debt service
- Subletting facility
- Attachment Maintenance Obligation
For the personal details:
- in the case of foreigners, the residence permit (residence permit, settlement permit)
- in the case of foreigners, the certificate of toleration, the certificate of the right of residence
- in the case of foreigners, the EU residence permit or the residence permit
For the determination of the rent to be taken into account (tenant):
- Lease Agreement and Supplementary Agreements
For the determination of the burden to be taken into account (homeowners):
- Proof of ownership (e.g. extract from the land register)
- Proof of the burden from debt service
- Proof of the size of the living space
- Proof of the amount of property tax and administrative costs to others
For the determination of the underlying income:
- Proof of the income declared in the application for each family member belonging to the household and each additional person with whom you have a residential and economic community
(e.g. current pension notice, pay slips,...) - in the case of recipients of transfer payments [see point (A) of the
Housing benefit application] the benefit notice, in the event of rejection of such an application also
the rejection notice
For other allowances and deductions:
- Severely disabled person's pass, corresponding assessment notice according to the
Severely Disabled Persons Act - Proof of need for long-term care
- Proof of expenses incurred to meet the statutory maintenance obligation
(e.g. alimony title, alimony agreement or proof of payment)
free
Approval is usually granted for 12 months. You should apply for continued housing benefit 2 months before the end of the approval period.
The housing allowance or an increase takes place from the time of application.
Due to the current very high volume of applications, longer processing times are to be expected.
You can submit applications for housing benefit to the housing benefit authorities.
Written form required: Yes
Personal appearance required: No
As a person entitled to housing benefit, you yourself must submit the application.
After checking your income and costs, you will be granted the housing benefit if you are entitled to it.
The approval and the amount of the payment will be communicated to you in writing.
Changes can, but do not have to, lead to an increase in housing benefit.
If your financial situation or living conditions have improved or changed again, there may also be a reduction in the housing benefit.
To ensure that you do not receive housing benefit unjustly, the housing benefit authority may regularly check the household members.
The amount of housing benefit may vary from region to region. The rent or charge is only eligible up to certain maximum amounts. The maximum amounts depend on the local rent level. There are 6 rent levels. At rent level 3, the rents of a municipality correspond approximately to the national average.
Applications and consultations are based on the first letter of the applicant's surname
- Please note that housing benefit is only paid from the month in which the application is submitted to the competent authority
- Further information, advice and up-to-date information on housing benefit as well as the housing benefit tables can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development as well as in the information sheets.
Calculation example for housing benefit
The housing allowance is granted only on application from the first of the month in which it is requested. If the legal requirements are met, a legal claim usually exists for a period of 12 months. If no changes are expected, the housing benefit authority can grant the benefit for up to 24 months. If significant changes in income or rent occur within this period, a recalculation will be made.
The group of persons entitled to apply includes, among others, wage and salary earners, job seekers (ALG I recipients), self-employed persons, freelancers, pensioners, trainees, students and parental allowance recipients (list is not exhaustive).
However, recipients of transfer payments for whom the costs of accommodation and heating have already been paid are excluded from housing benefit. These include, among other things, unemployment benefit II or social benefit according to SGB II, basic security according to SGB XII, assistance for subsistence according to SGB XI or benefits according to the AsylbLG.
Furthermore, no housing benefit can be granted if the household exceeds the income limits or if there is too little income to cover one's own living costs. Trainees or students who are entitled to BAB or BAföG on the merits or persons who are not tenants or owners of the housing for which housing benefit is applied for and do not pay rent are also not entitled to housing benefit.
The basis for calculating the housing benefit as a rent subsidy is the gross cold rent, which is made up of the net cold rent and the cold operating costs. In order to take into account the considerable additional burdens caused by the sharp rise in heating costs, a permanent heating cost component will be introduced as a surcharge on the rent to be taken into account. Furthermore, there will be a climate component that cushions structural rent increases due to energy-saving measures in the building sector across the board. The heating cost and air conditioning components are deliberately designed as lump sums in order to obtain incentives to save energy.
The following examples are intended to give an impression of the housing benefit amounts in selected cases:
1) A single person in a 50 m² apartment with a total rent of EUR 450 (including EUR 80 heating costs), EUR 17.97 in cable fees and a pension of EUR 1,100 net receives about EUR 150 in housing benefit.
2) For a single parent with a net income of about 1,500.00, a maintenance payment of EUR 250 for a child and a total rent of EUR 620 (of which heating costs EUR 120), there is an entitlement of approximately EUR 210 housing benefit.
3) For a 4-person household in which parent A earns about EUR 2,000 net, parent B receives EUR 750 unemployment benefit and the total rent is EUR 840 (of which EUR 190 is heating costs), there is an expected housing benefit entitlement of EUR 180.
Ministry of Infrastructure and Digital Affairs Saxony-Anhalt
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
