Gas bill too high?

How and where you can get grants now

Created: 11/17/2022, 5:13 p.m

By: Patrick Mayer

Winter is approaching and many Germans are worried about the gas bill.

The down payment should help in December, there is still a possibility for grants.

Merkur.de explains which ones.

Munich/Berlin – Full focus on energy costs: How hard will winter be for owners and tenants?

The planned advance payments on gas for private households and small businesses by the state should help in December.

The advance payment for around 20 million gas and district heating customers will be taken over once.

This concerns both direct customers of gas suppliers, i.e. home builders and landlords, as well as tenants who pay for their gas consumption at a later date via the utility bill.

Gas bills in Germany: advance payments as relief for private customers

Households and smaller companies with an annual consumption of up to 1.5 million kilowatt hours are entitled to the one-time relief.

Institutions in the care and education sector as well as in medical care receive the down payment even if their consumption is higher.

According to the traffic light federal government made up of SPD, Greens and FDP, relief is in the "higher single-digit billion range", financed by the Economic Stabilization Fund.

From October 2022 to March 2024, less VAT will also be charged on natural gas deliveries and district heating, seven instead of the previous 19 percent.

In the focus of the energy crisis: heating with gas in winter.

(symbol photo) © IMAGO / Political-Moments

While it is still unclear how tidy (or heavy) the gas bills will be in individual cases, there is another possibility for subsidies for heating and cooking with the raw material - the so-called housing allowance.

This is a state subsidy for rented households that do not receive social benefits but have little money available each month. 

Subsidies for heating: Housing benefit offers the possibility of relief

As the Bundestag decided at the beginning of November, the housing allowance is to be increased by an average of EUR 190 to around EUR 370 per month from January.

According to

, in isolated cases, even owners (up to 60,000 euros in assets) can receive a subsidy in the form of housing benefit.

"We can only advise every citizen with a low income: Use our housing benefit calculator to check whether you are entitled," a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Building is quoted as saying.

The said housing benefit calculator can be accessed at

.

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The subsidy granted is granted by the competent housing benefit authority, i.e. a city or municipal administration.

Means: In the village you should ask in the town hall.

The authority calculates the housing benefit with binding effect and approves it for twelve months.

But that's not all: According to the

, single recipients of housing benefit can receive a one-time payment of 270 euros as a heating cost subsidy, a household with two people therefore 350 euros.

Additionally.

According to

, the number of households in Germany receiving housing benefit is estimated to rise to two million in the future. 

housing benefit

Housing benefit is a subsidy to ensure economic security for appropriate and family-friendly housing.

For said social benefit, an application must be submitted to the responsible city or municipal administration at the place of residence.

All those who live for rent and whose total monthly household income is below a defined (low) income limit are entitled to housing benefit.

The differences between the German municipalities are large.

In many cities, a one-person household only receives housing benefit if the gross monthly income is less than 1,000 euros.

In expensive Munich, on the other hand, a single person living alone can still apply for housing benefit, even with a monthly gross income of EUR 1,700.

Housing benefit and basic security: Relief for low-income households when heating with gas

However, according to the Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz (SPD), recipients of housing benefit will have to wait several weeks for the money to be paid out.

"It can be assumed that the processing time will increase more," she said of the

: "If you submit an application on January 1st, it will be decided in March."

Of course, the galloping energy costs do not take this into account.

In addition to the housing benefit, the so-called basic security offers low-income households the opportunity for subsidies.

If the total monthly income of a household is less than 924 euros, it can be checked whether you are entitled to basic security.

, singles can

receive up to 449 euros per month in basic security – plus rent, heating and ancillary costs.