Hartz IV recipient lives in a tent and wants a subsidy for heating costs - the court makes a surprising decision

Created: 01/25/2022, 14:56

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

A Hartz IV recipient who lives in a tent in winter has complained because the job center refused him the heating cost subsidy.

(Iconic image) © Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB/Archive image

Can a tent count as accommodation?

A Hartz IV recipient who lives in a tent in winter has complained because the job center refused him the heating cost subsidy.

Freiburg - The winter can be very hard for homeless people.

A homeless Hartz IV recipient complained to the social court in Freiburg because the job center refused to pay the heating cost allowance* in November 2021.

During the winter months, the man lives in his tent in a forest in the Emmendingen district near Freiburg.

Job center: Tent is not accommodation

From 2016 onwards, he received a heating allowance of up to 46 euros per month from the job center for the months of October to March.

However, he always had to prove the acquisition costs for the heating material.

Only at the beginning of last winter did the job center refuse further payments.

The reason: A tent is not an accommodation that protects against storms and ensures privacy.

In addition, there is a lack of hygiene options and comfort.

A prerequisite for a heating cost subsidy is accommodation.

The social court saw it differently: according to legislation, the job center must guarantee reasonable costs for both accommodation and heating.

A heating cost subsidy is therefore not necessarily linked to the availability of accommodation.

Richter: Heating cost subsidy of up to 50 euros

On the contrary: According to the court, the narrow definition of accommodation as an apartment “disadvantages people in particular who, for economic or personal reasons, cannot obtain better-quality housing”.

However, this contradicts the fundamental right to a decent existence and the idea of ​​the welfare state.

The Hartz IV recipient living in the tent should therefore receive a heating cost allowance of up to 50 euros per month from January according to the verdict (Az.: S 9 AS 84/22 ER).

In this case, too, he must prove the procurement costs for the heating material to the job center*.

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