Administrative services A-Z

Housing benefit is intended to enable you to live in appropriate and family-friendly accommodation. You can apply for continued payment of housing benefit within one month of the end of the approval period at the latest, as in your first application, as a

• rent subsidy for tenants or subtenants of living space or for residents of a home (residents of a home as defined by the relevant state law; this also includes people with disabilities who are admitted to special forms of housing not only temporarily to provide integration assistance) or as a
• Encumbrance allowance for owners of their own home or condominium

If the costs of accommodation are covered by another social benefit provider, you are not entitled to housing benefit. This is the case if you already receive

• citizen's allowance or
• basic income support in old age or
• in the event of reduced earning capacity or
• assistance towards living expenses or
• receive another transfer benefit for which the costs of accommodation have been taken into account in the calculation.

As an applicant, you must still be entitled to housing benefit. You are eligible for housing benefit as:

• Tenants of residential property
• Subtenant of living space
• Residents of a cooperative or foundation apartment
• residents of a home (residents of a home as defined by the relevant state law; this also includes people with disabilities who are not only temporarily admitted to special forms of accommodation for the provision of integration assistance)
• tenants with similar rights of use, in particular holders of a tenancy-like permanent right of residence
• Owners of an apartment building (three or more apartments), a commercial building or a business, if you live in this building
• Owners of a detached or semi-detached house in which you live, but which also contains business premises to such an extent that it can no longer be regarded as your own home
• Owners of a full-time agricultural business whose residential part is not separate from the business part
• women who live in women's shelters, even if the remuneration is calculated on a daily basis
• a person who has been assigned to homeless accommodation or third-party accommodation by the homelessness authority, even if the user fee (which is not, for example, calculated according to the number of days or staggered according to adults and children) is paid to the homelessness authority

You are eligible for a housing allowance as:

• Owner of your own home or condominium,
• Owners of a small housing estate,
• Owners of an agricultural sideline,
• Owners of a full-time agricultural property if the residential and commercial parts are separate and a housing benefit calculation can be made for the residential part,
• Owners of a permanent right of residence similar to ownership
• holders of heritable building rights and those who are entitled to the transfer of ownership of the building or apartment or to the transfer or granting of the heritable building right.

The owner of the dwelling must occupy the dwelling and pay the charges for it.

It is best to contact the relevant office in advance to find out what documents you need. In principle, you must provide the following proof of housing costs or charges:

• about transfer benefits (for example, assistance with living expenses, social benefit, basic security benefits in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity, benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act)
• Certificate of earnings for the application for housing benefit,
• proof of increased income-related expenses according to the tax assessment,
• current notifications of pension payments of any kind,
• benefits according to the Third Book of the Social Security Code - Employment Promotion (e.g. unemployment benefit I, short-time working allowance, transitional allowance),
• Proof of sick pay and other wage replacement benefits,
• last tax assessment notice (for self-employed persons/traders).

To be on the safe side, please state all income of all household members in cash or cash equivalents, regardless of its source and regardless of whether the income is taxable or not. This will avoid unnecessary queries. The Housing Benefit Office will then check which of the income is creditable. If necessary, other evidence must be enclosed (only if there have been changes within the last approval period):

• Certificate of enrollment (students),
• BAföG notification (students),
• Declaration of monthly allowances from parents during studies,
• Proof of health insurance,
• Proof of pension or life insurance,
• Appendix to the application for housing benefit in the case of expenses to fulfill statutory maintenance obligations,
• Certificate of severe disability (if applicable, proof of care allowance payments).
• In the case of foreign nationals from third countries, proof of residence status and duration of residence must be submitted.
• Other EU citizens must submit a certificate of right of residence/EU residence permit and registration with the registration office.

To apply for a rent subsidy, you also need this completed form (only if there have been changes within the last approval period):

• Landlord certificate (usually provided by the housing benefit authorities)

To apply for the encumbrance allowance, you also need the following forms/evidence (only if there have been changes within the last approval period):

• Form for determining the burden from the debt service
• Proof of the debt service charge (borrowed funds certificate, last payment receipt, interest and repayment schedule if applicable)
• Proof of the amount of the purchase price or construction costs (also for modernizations)
• Property tax assessment notice/proof of the amount of ground rent
• If applicable, proof of income from the transfer of rooms and areas to third parties
• Calculation of living space in accordance with DIN 277 or the Living Space Ordinance (WoFlV, building application)
• If applicable, notification of the building subsidy
• Proof of ownership, extract from the land register, purchase contract

free of charge

• It is best to contact the relevant office in advance to find out what documents you need.
• You submit your application for continued benefits in writing using the form provided or with the help of the online service. You can send the form by post to the housing benefit office responsible for you or hand it in in person.
• The authority will check your application for continued benefits and send you a decision.
• In the event of continued approval, housing benefit is generally granted for a further twelve months and can be granted for up to 24 months if your income remains relatively constant.

As a rule, housing benefit is paid to you from the first of the month (after the end of the previous approval period) if an application for continued benefits is submitted to the Housing Benefit Office within one month of the end of the approval period at the latest.

Responsible district or city/municipality

• Overview of the housing benefit authorities in the state of Brandenburg

• § Section 26 of the First Book of the German Social Code (SGB I)
• § Section 1 Housing Benefit Act (WoGG)
• § Section 25 (1) sentence 2 Housing Benefit Act (WoGG)
• Housing Benefit Ordinance (WoGV)
• Housing benefit administrative regulation (WoGVwV)

The following information is available:

In order to prevent or detect the unlawful claiming of housing benefit, the housing benefit authority may regularly check the details of all household members by means of a data comparison - also in automated form- in particular with the pension insurance data office. For example, the following may be compared

• whether citizen's allowance (formerly unemployment benefit II) is being paid while you are receiving housing benefit,
• whether there is employment subject to compulsory insurance or marginal employment
• or the amount of investment income for which an exemption order has been issued.

It is also possible to compare registration addresses, housing status and the time of re-registrations with the registration office. It is also possible to call up accounts at the Federal Central Tax Office. Suspected cases of fraud are always reported to the public prosecutor's office. Through these checks, the housing benefit authority can determine, for example

• whether housing benefit is being received more than once,
• whether transfer payments leading to exclusion from housing benefit are being received at the same time,
• whether the information in the housing benefit application is correct
  • on income from gainful employment,
  • income from one or more pensions
  • income from capital gains (interest or dividends),
• whether the payment of unemployment benefit was discontinued in the case of original unemployment (e.g. due to taking up new employment) and
• whether the original home for which housing benefit was paid is still actually being used.

The review is permitted up to ten years after notification of the associated housing benefit approval.

• Housing benefit - Information from the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB)

Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein