Housing benefit for single parents in Frankfurt
As of: August 2026
Yes, single parents can receive housing benefit (Wohngeld) in Frankfurt if they live in the dwelling with at least one minor child and without another adult and the other conditions are met. The Housing Benefit Act provides an allowance for that. Maintenance and advance maintenance payments count as income; child benefit stays outside. High Frankfurt rents often hit single parents especially hard because one income must carry the dwelling.
One income, Frankfurt rent, level VI
In Mietenstufe VI the maximum for two people is 745 euros, for three people 887 euros. Many dwellings for a parent plus child or children in Bornheim, Gallus or Niederrad lie exactly in this corridor or above it. A single set of earnings plus maintenance often does not fully carry the gross cold rent – but lies above Bürgergeld.
What lies above the maximum stays uncounted. The application does not fail because of the high rent alone. The system is under Amount and Eligibility. Families with two adults follow the Families page.
Who is a single parent for housing-benefit purposes
The single-parent allowance exists if a countable household member lives exclusively with one child or several children and at least one of those children is not yet 18 and child benefit or a comparable benefit is received. If another adult lives permanently in the dwelling – for example a new partner – this allowance falls away.
Maintenance and benefits under the Advance Maintenance Payments Act generally count as income. Child benefit stays outside. Maintenance paid to people outside the household can be deducted under the conditions of the Housing Benefit Act. The deductions at a glance: Allowances.
Which documents single parents typically submit
Besides the tenancy agreement, rent payments and identification the authority needs income evidence, child-benefit documents for household composition and evidence of maintenance or advance maintenance – even if nothing flows, a short explanation helps. The filterable list is under Documents.
The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, receives the application. After a separation household size often changes; that must be reported.
Example: a parent with two children
Example for orientation, not a decision notice: a parent lives with two minor children in Niederrad. The gross cold rent is 940 euros. The maximum for level VI for three people is 887 euros. At most 887 euros therefore enter the calculation; 53 euros stay uncounted. Income consists of a part-time salary plus maintenance or advance maintenance. Child benefit stays outside the income sum; the single-parent allowance reduces countable income.
A euro amount of housing benefit is named only in the decision notice. Further situations: Families, Part-time, audiences. Next: Application, Documents, Amount, Eligibility.
Start your Frankfurt application
Submit application online