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Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz at an appointment in Cottbus
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
Due to the high demand, it is currently taking a long time for the authorities to decide on housing benefit applications.
Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz has therefore called on the citizens concerned to be patient.
It is "of course a huge task" to distribute four billion euros, said the SPD politician in the ARD "Morgenmagazin", and then assured: "Everyone who applies for housing benefit in January and gets it approved, regardless of whether that If it is in February or early March, you will also receive the money retrospectively from January.« The housing benefit offices of the municipalities are responsible for the applications.
Geywitz describes the demand by the tenants' association to issue more provisional notices in view of the expected waiting times of several months as a "great suggestion" that has already been taken up.
In urgent cases, the authorities could therefore temporarily approve the housing benefit.
So that every application does not have to be processed twice, the authorities could decide to automatically extend notifications, according to the minister.
Since the turn of the year, more households are to be relieved of housing benefit – up to 1.4 million households are to be added to the 600,000 housing benefit households so far.
The state subsidy is increased by an average of 190 euros per month.
This means that eligible households receive an average of around 370 euros per month.
You can apply for housing benefit if you do not receive social benefits but still have little money.
Many entitled citizens do not even know their rights - read here what you should know about them.
Simplified applications should ensure that the housing benefit flows quickly.
In Berlin, for example, the main form alone comprises eight densely printed pages.
Detailed information on the income and assets of all members of a household is required.
mgo/dpa