Assets that can exclude housing benefit
As of: August 2026
Housing benefit (Wohngeld) presupposes that the household cannot deploy substantial assets. The Housing Benefit Act protects a disregarded amount (Schonvermögen); realisable savings above that can exclude the claim independently of monthly income. In administrative practice, figures around 60,000 euros for a single person and around 90,000 euros for a household often serve as orientation – the authority sets the figure in the individual case. Owner-occupied property is not usually treated like savings.
Income and assets are two checks
Low monthly income does not yet create a subsidy if at the same time substantial realisable assets are present. Conversely, a small savings balance does not exclude the claim. The assets check stands beside the income assessment and the other eligibility rules.
The legal basis is the Housing Benefit Act. It does not require anyone first to empty every account, but it allows the authority to refuse if assets are substantial. What flows as income is under Income.
Protected assets as the statutory framework
The WoGG attaches to the idea of protected assets: savings that serve everyday living and modest provision should not automatically block the subsidy. Only when realisable assets clearly exceed this framework is there “substantial assets”.
A euro limit spelled out in the Act for every life situation and every household is often not published as a fixed table. The housing-benefit authority examines the individual case against the statutory criteria and the evidence on file.
What typically counts as assets
Realisable are values that the household could deploy without harming interests worthy of protection. They usually include:
- Balances on current, instant-access and savings accounts
- Cash above everyday needs
- Securities, fund units and similar capital investments
- Surrender values of life or pension insurance, insofar as they are available
- Property that is not owner-occupied, or undeveloped land
- Claims, for example from an inheritance not yet paid out, insofar as they can be realised
What often stays outside the count
Not every item on an assets list leads to refusal. Typically left out or treated gently are:
- the owner-occupied flat or house for which an owner subsidy may be relevant
- reasonable household goods and a reasonable motor vehicle
- assets that are demonstrably tied to a near-term, concrete housing purpose
- shares that cannot be realised, for example because realisation would be unreasonable or legally impossible
How the authority examines
In the application you must give details of the assets of all household members. The authority can request account overviews, depot statements or land-register data. Incomplete details delay the decision and can lead to a refusal if the assets position cannot be clarified.
The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, is responsible for dwellings in Frankfurt am Main. Which documents are usual is under Documents.
Boundary with Bürgergeld and with the amount
The idea of protected assets in housing-benefit law is not identical with the asset rules for Bürgergeld. Anyone moving from Bürgergeld with housing costs into the subsidy should not mix the two regimes; the exclusion logic is explained under Bürgergeld.
If there are no substantial assets, the formula of household, adjusted income and countable rent then decides the amount. Assets below the substantiality threshold are not “counted monthly” like a receipt.
Changes during the award period
A later increase in assets – an inheritance, a gift, sale proceeds – can cause the claim to fall away. Conversely, using up savings alone does not yet create a new claim; that needs a new or amended application and the other conditions.
Before the award period ends, the renewal asks about assets again. Terms are explained in the Glossary.
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