Housing benefit reform is to come: who is entitled – and how much money there is
Created: 09/08/2022, 11:41 am
By: Nail Akkoyun
Part of the planned housing benefit reform is also included in the government's third relief package.
What sufferers need to know.
Berlin – In view of the energy crisis triggered by and associated with the war in Ukraine, the traffic light coalition announced a third relief package for the German population on September 4th.
Housing benefit recipients, among others, should benefit from this.
Anyone who receives housing benefit should receive a one-time heating subsidy in the fall.
In the housing benefit reform planned for the beginning of the year, the subsidy is to become a permanent component, and the group of people entitled to housing benefit is to be expanded.
The housing benefit reform is intended to give those affected more money in difficult times.
© Imago
Relief through one-off payment: housing benefit reform from January 2023
The government housing benefit calculator makes it easy to find out if you are currently eligible for housing benefit payments and how much money you could theoretically get.
If you are entitled, you must submit an application to the municipal housing benefit authority.
But be careful: If you are already receiving social benefits, you cannot apply for additional housing benefit.
However, the circle of beneficiaries is to be expanded from January 2023 – at least if the government plans it.
Among other things, pensioners should then be permanently entitled to housing benefit.
How exactly the calculation and the applications should then work has yet to be clarified.
Relief: housing benefit reform for everyone "who have a small income"
One of the measures against inflation and the energy crisis is to pay another one-off heating subsidy between September and December to recipients of housing benefit.
After that, the subsidy for those affected will be permanently integrated into the housing allowance, it said.
The
one-off payment
, on the other hand, amounts to at least
415 euros
, as can be seen from the coalition paper:
household | heating allowance |
|---|---|
1-person household | 415 euros |
2-person household | 540 euros |
Any additional person | Additional 100 euros |
Source: Paper on the relief package III |
The traffic light coalition is meanwhile aiming for a "major housing benefit reform" for "early next year", as Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said in July.
In addition to the integration of the heating cost subsidy, pensioners should then “particularly” benefit from the reform.
The group of those entitled to housing benefit is to be expanded in order to help those "who have a small income," said Scholz.
(nak with dpa)
