Back
Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 809

Information on housing benefit

Housing benefit reform 2023 - Housing Benefit Plus Act

Housing benefit is a subsidy to ensure adequate and family-friendly housing. This social benefit is only granted on application. If the legal requirements are met, there is a legal entitlement to housing benefit. Housing benefit is paid to tenants of residential property (rent subsidy) and owners of owner-occupied property (encumbrance subsidy).

The amount of housing benefit depends largely on

  • how high the applicant's income is,
  • how high the applicant's rent or charges are and
  • how many other people live in the applicant's household and how high their income is.

The Federal Council approved the Housing Benefit Plus Act on 25 November 2022. This means that nothing stands in the way of it coming into force on 1 January 2023.

For households already receiving housing benefit, it should lead to a noticeable increase in the previous monthly housing benefit amount. Around 3,300 households in Chemnitz currently receive this benefit. Anyone receiving housing benefit after the turn of the year 2022/2023 will not have to submit a separate application. There will be an automated recalculation. The amended notice will be delivered.

The Housing Benefit Plus Act will also make significantly more households eligible for housing benefit for the first time. With the federal government forecasting a more than three-fold increase in housing benefit households, up to 11,200 households could ultimately receive housing benefit from 2023.

People who expect to be entitled to housing benefit for the first time from 1 January 2023 as a result of the housing benefit reform are asked to refrain from submitting an application until the amendment has come into force.

Online housing benefit calculators can provide guidance to make it easier for those affected to decide whether to submit an application. For example, the following links can be used to check a possible housing benefit claim without obligation:

Housing benefitcalculator (wohngeld.org)

Housing benefit calcul ator (smart-rechner.de)

Housing benefit calculator (Senate Berlin)

All entries are anonymous. It is important to note that an application must be submitted to the housing benefit authority to obtain legally binding information on your housing benefit entitlement. The calculation with the housing benefit calculator does not replace this.

The following overview of the income limits may also help you to decide whether to submit an application:

Guideline values - upper income limits for housing benefit 2023 and rent level 1 for Chemnitz

Members in the household

Monthly income limit

Gross income (without child benefit!) before a flat-rate deduction of

10%

20%

30%

1

1.372

1.524

1.715

1.959

2

1.854

2.060

2.317

2.648

3

2.316

2.574

2.895

3.309

4

3.132

3.480

3.915

4.474

5

3.598

3.998

4.498

5.140

6

4.063

4.514

5.078

5.804

7

4.473

4.970

5.591

6.389

8

4.698

5.220

5.873

6.711

9

5.303

5.892

6.629

7.576

10

5.989

6.654

7.486

8.555

11

6.490

7.211

8.113

9.271

12

6.826

7.584

8.532

9.751


General note on the flat-rate deduction

if applicable individually or together:

  • 10% if taxes are paid on income
  • 10% for payment of compulsory contributions to statutory health and long-term care insurance
  • 10% for payment of compulsory statutory pension insurance contributions

Substantial assets

Persons with substantial assets are not entitled to housing benefit. As a rule, substantial assets exist if the total realisable assets of the household members to be taken into account exceed the following amounts:

  • 60,000 euros for the first household member to be taken into account and
  • 30,000 euros for each additional household member to be taken into account.

Exclusion from housing benefit

Recipients of transfer benefits (e.g. unemployment benefit II, social benefit - new citizen's benefit, basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity, asylum seeker benefits) are still excluded from housing benefit if the costs of accommodation were taken into account when calculating the transfer benefit.

No entitlement to housing benefit

As before, there is no entitlement to housing benefit if all household members receive benefits to support training in accordance with the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG), vocational training allowance (BAB) or training allowance in accordance with the Third Book of the Social Code - SGB III - or benefits to secure subsistence in accordance with the special programme to promote professional mobility in Europe (MobiPro - EU). However, this does not apply if the training assistance is granted exclusively as a loan. However, if there are several people living in a household and at least one member of the household is not entitled to receive one of the above-mentioned benefits, they may be entitled to housing benefit. This applies, for example, if a single parent in training lives together with one or more children.

Preparations by the city of Chemnitz

In view of the expected sharp increase in the number of applicants, the City of Chemnitz is implementing the following catalogue of measures:

  • additional employees in the City of Chemnitz's housing benefit department
  • Personal submission of applications with brief advice will be possible from 2 January 2023 at the temporary service point in the Bürgerhalle of the Moritzhof, Bahnhofstraße 53, 09111 Chemnitz from
    • Monday and Friday from 8.30 am to 12 noon (closed on Wednesday)
    • Tuesday, Thursday from 8.30 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 6 pm.

Applications can also be obtained here. In the event of waiting times, please use the admission service in the foyer of the Moritzhof, Bahnhofstraße 53, to obtain an application.

  • Introduction of an "online application for housing benefit". Information on the exact start date will be provided separately.
  • Issue/delivery of applications at the citizen service centres of the City of Chemnitz
    (Attention: no counselling possible)
    www.chemnitz.de/buergerservice
  • Support in filling out an application through meeting facilities
    (no counselling possible)
    www.chemnitz.de/begegnungsstaetten
  • The following housing companies support their tenants in completing the housing benefit application at their own request (please note: no counselling is possible here either):
    • Grundstücks- und Gebäudewirtschaft mbH (GGG)
    • Chemnitzer Allgemeine Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft eG (CAWG)
    • Housing co-operative Einheit eG (WG Einheit)
    • Housing co-operative Chemnitz West eG (WCW)
    • Sächsische Wohnungsgenossenschaft Chemnitz eG (SWG)
    • Chemnitzer Siedlungsgemeinschaft eG (CSG)
  • The following housing association has been informed about the new housing benefit applications
    (Attention: no support and counselling when filling out the housing benefit application):
    • Wohnungsgenossenschaft Chemnitz-Helbersdorf eG (WCH)

You can still contact

  • for general questions the authority number 115
  • the service number of the housing benefit authority on 0371 / 488 6477:
    • Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8.30am to 12pm,
    • Tuesday, Thursday 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • the function mailbox wohngeld(at)stadt-chemnitz.de for questions about housing benefit or housing benefit applications.

Information on housing benefit and application form for housing benefit

Information on housing benefit, the application form and the required documents and evidence can be found at any time at www.chemnitz.de/wohngeldantrag.

The application form for housing benefit can also be found here in pdf format, which can be completed, signed and sent to the housing benefit authority:

  • by e-mail to the functional mailbox wohngeld(at)stadt-chemnitz.de or
  • by post to:
    City of Chemnitz, Social Welfare Office, Department of Social Services
    Bahnhofstraße 53, 09111 Chemnitz

It is recommended that you read through the explanations attached to the application for selected questions in the housing benefit application, as this will make it easier to complete the application. Please do not forget to sign the application for housing benefit.

Exact date of payment of higher benefits not yet known

The IT service providers also require a certain amount of time for the technical conversion of the specialised applications. It is currently assumed that the increased housing benefit and the second heating allowance, which was approved at the beginning of November 2022, will not be paid out before the end of February 2023. No application is required for the second heating allowance. It will be paid ex officio if housing benefit was received in at least one month in the period from September 2022 to December 2022.

The implementation of the Housing Benefit Plus Act poses enormous challenges for all housing benefit authorities nationwide. Patience is therefore already being requested with regard to the processing of applications. If people are entitled to housing benefit, they will receive payment from the month in which their application is received by the housing benefit authority, but under the Housing Benefit Plus Act from 1 January 2023 at the earliest.

Entitled persons will not lose anything, despite longer processing times than usual.

www.chemnitz.de/wohngeld