Housing benefit in a shared flat in Frankfurt
As of: August 2026
Yes, members of a shared flat can receive housing benefit (Wohngeld) in Frankfurt – usually each person for themselves as their own household with their share of the rent. A shared flat is usually not a family for housing-benefit purposes. What matters are your own rent share, your own income and, for students, the BAföG exclusion. Anyone who forms an economic community with a partner is, by contrast, examined as a joint household.
A rent share instead of the whole flat – level VI still relevant
In Frankfurt shared-flat rooms in Bockenheim, Nordend or at Riedberg often lie between 350 and 550 euros gross cold rent. The maximum for Mietenstufe VI for one person is 615 euros. Many shares lie below that and can enter the calculation in full. Even so the city remains expensive: anyone who bears a larger room or high service charges hits the 615-euro limit.
Only your share is countable, not the rent of the whole flat. The general rules are under Amount and Eligibility. A subtenancy with two contracts is described under Subtenants.
Your own household, not a family shared flat
A household member is someone who shares the living space with you and stands for one another under the Housing Benefit Act – marriage, registered partnership, a community of responsibility or close kinship. Typical shared-flat members with separate finances and their own room are each their own household. Each person submits their own application with their share of the rent.
A couple in a shared-flat dwelling is usually examined as a joint two-person household; then the maximum of 745 euros applies to the joint rent. Students in a shared flat remain additionally subject to the “BAföG in principle” filter, because each person is their own household. See Students, Household members and BAföG.
Which documents shared-flat members typically submit
You need the contract from which your rent share appears – a head tenancy with an internal agreement or a subtenancy agreement – proof of your payments and identification plus income evidence. For a subtenancy the head contract and a floor-plan sketch are added. The list is under Documents.
Each entitled person submits the application themselves. The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, is responsible.
Example: a shared-flat member with their own rent share
Example for orientation, not a decision notice: a person rents a room in a four-person shared flat in Bockenheim. Their share of the gross cold rent is 385 euros. The maximum for level VI for one person is 615 euros. The entire share lies below that and can therefore enter in full. Income consists of an employee salary in part-time work. The three housemates each submit their own application or none.
Whether housing benefit is paid depends on your own income – a euro amount is named only in the decision notice. Further situations: Subtenants, Students, Part-time. Next: Application, Documents, Amount, Eligibility.
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