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"Belly landing with an announcement": Housing benefit payment will probably be delayed by months

2022-11-26T21:38:44.083Z


"Belly landing with an announcement": Housing benefit payment will probably be delayed by months Created: 11/26/2022, 10:32 p.m From January 1, more people should be entitled to housing benefit, but the payment could be delayed until the summer. The reason is a lack of staff. Berlin - The planned housing benefit reform is to come into force on January 1st as an instrument against inflation. How


"Belly landing with an announcement": Housing benefit payment will probably be delayed by months

Created: 11/26/2022, 10:32 p.m

From January 1, more people should be entitled to housing benefit, but the payment could be delayed until the summer.

The reason is a lack of staff.

Berlin - The planned housing benefit reform is to come into force on January 1st as an instrument against inflation.

However, many households will probably have to wait until the summer for the payment to be made.

The reason is apparently a blatant lack of staff in the responsible authorities.

Housing allowance payment is probably delayed by months - too few staff

Municipalities and states are therefore already certain that the payment will be delayed for months.

"It already takes three to six months to process an application for housing benefit," said Gerd Landsberg, general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, to the

image

.

"This will expand significantly."

The payment of housing benefit could be delayed by months for many households.

© IMAGO / Nikito

Landsberg goes on to say that in addition to the changeover of the software to new parameters, there will also be a wave of new applications coming to the municipalities.

"We don't have the people to work them off quickly." The cities would have advertised the positions, but could not fill them.

The housing benefit is intended to support people in paying their rent.

Some pensioners are also entitled to this - depending on how much they draw.

Housing benefit: Payment is delayed - criticism from the opposition

The building minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ina Scharrenbach (CDU), confirms that there is a lack of staff.

She told the dpa: "Right from the start, the federal government had the goal of pushing through the housing benefit reform with all its might.

She'll get a black eye in the process."

"We assume that under the new law, housing benefit applications can only be approved from April 2023 and then retrospectively," the NRW Minister continued.

A rush to the housing benefit offices is already noticeable.

Hardly any country has taken precautions for possible advance payments.

Housing allowance payment is delayed: "Belly landing with an announcement"

The managing director of the NRW Association of Cities and of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, also believes that the support in the form of housing benefit "will not reach many people in a timely manner".

The federal government has refused to introduce simplifications in the law, such as lump sums that would have enabled faster payments.

"It's a belly landing with an announcement," says Dedy.

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The managing director of the NRW Association of Cities and the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, does not believe that the housing allowance will be paid out in a timely manner.

© IMAGO / Christian Ditsch

The Federal Council approved the reform on Friday.

According to this, next year, in addition to the 600,000 households nationwide, up to 1.4 million more could be entitled to a state subsidy for rent.

Households that do not receive social benefits but still have little money can apply for housing benefit.

Some pensioners will also soon receive the energy flat rate.

(dpa/mef)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-11-26

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