Separating Bürgergeld and housing benefit

Bürgergeld under Book II of the Social Code and basic income support under Book XII of the Social Code cover living costs including reasonable housing costs. As long as these housing costs (Kosten der Unterkunft, KdU) flow as a grant, there is no room for housing benefit. That applies to rented flats as to owner-occupied property if the jobcentre or the social-welfare office covers the burden.

The general map of benefits is under Transfer benefits. Here the boundary between Bürgergeld and housing benefit is set out.

The exclusion does not require that the full Frankfurt rent was recognised. Taking KdU into account in the notice is usually enough. A partial amount, a reduction because of unreasonableness or a time-limited takeover does not change that, as long as it is a grant.

Members of the benefit community (Bedarfsgemeinschaft) whose housing runs through Bürgergeld are included. Anyone in the same household who does not belong to the benefit community can in some cases form their own eligible part; the authority examines that through the household members.

If the rent or a rent deposit is provided by the jobcentre or social-welfare office solely as a loan, there is no excluding grant of KdU. The household can then – if the other conditions are met – receive housing benefit. Repayment of the loan is not housing benefit, but often does not reduce disposable income in the same way as an ongoing receipt.

Submit the loan notice. Without this distinction in the notice the housing-benefit authority assumes the usual case of exclusion.

If a household with earnings, a pension, maintenance and a possible housing-benefit amount reaches the threshold from which Bürgergeld would no longer be needed, the subsidy can take priority. The aim is to avoid the need for assistance rather than to supplement it.

This check is not a guarantee. It requires a comparison of need, income and hypothetical housing benefit. The housing-benefit authority and the jobcentre can request the figures from each other. A self-calculated euro amount on this page would be speculative; the system of the formula is under Calculation.

Unemployment benefit I is not a benefit with KdU and does not exclude housing benefit. It counts as income. The same applies to pensions. Many households switch to the subsidy after Bürgergeld ends or after taking up work – see Employees and Pensioners.

As long as supplementary Bürgergeld with KdU still flows (a so-called top-up constellation), the exclusion remains. Only when the top-up part ends or would exist only without housing costs does the path to housing benefit open.

Basic income support in old age or in the case of reduced earning capacity with housing costs stands equal to the Bürgergeld exclusion. A small pension alone, by contrast, is precisely a typical housing-benefit case, as long as no KdU benefit runs alongside it.

In mixed households – for example if an adult child receives Bürgergeld but the parents do not – an application of their own can be possible for the part not in Bürgergeld. The rent is then allocated in shares. Students in the same household additionally follow the rules on BAföG.

Anyone who wants to switch from Bürgergeld into housing benefit submits a first application to the housing-benefit authority and encloses the latest jobcentre or social-welfare notices. For dwellings in Frankfurt am Main the Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, is responsible.

Do not wait to apply until KdU has already been stopped and a gap arises; the benefit usually takes effect from the month of application. Documents: checklist. Whether a claim then exists in principle is clarified by the eligibility rules.