Housing benefit for students in Frankfurt
As of: August 2026
Single students in Frankfurt often receive no housing benefit (Wohngeld) if they are entitled to BAföG in principle – even if no BAföG is paid out because of the parents’ income. The position can be different if the training is not eligible for support or if people live in the household who do not fall under this exclusion. The check follows the Housing Benefit Act, not the status “student” alone.
High rents, but first the BAföG filter
Frankfurt is expensive and lies in Mietenstufe VI. Many student rent shares in Bockenheim, at Campus Riedberg or in a shared flat lie below the maximum of 615 euros for one person – the rent alone would therefore often be countable. Even so the claim often fails beforehand: on the exclusion under section 20 of the Housing Benefit Act.
Anyone who passes this filter is examined like any other household by income, household size and gross cold rent. The general rules are under Eligibility and Amount. The BAföG page develops the exclusion: BAföG.
BAföG in principle – and the exceptions
There is no housing-benefit claim if all household members are or would be entitled to benefits under the Federal Training Assistance Act in principle. That also applies if nothing is paid in amount, for example because of the parents’ income. Exception: the benefit would be provided solely as a loan. Trainees with BAB follow a parallel rule under Trainees.
The exclusion does not apply if the training is not eligible for support – for example after exceeding the age limit, for a degree programme that is not eligible, or a form of training that BAföG does not cover. It also does not apply if at least one person lives in the household who is not entitled to BAföG in principle: an employed partner, a child, a parent. Then the household is examined as a whole; BAföG paid out as a grant flows into income at half.
Which documents students typically submit
Besides the tenancy or subtenancy agreement, rent payments and identification the authority needs a certificate of enrolment, a BAföG notice or the reason why there is no claim in principle, plus income evidence of all household members. In a shared flat your own share of the rent counts. The list is under Documents.
The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, receives the application. The place of the dwelling is responsible, not the higher-education institution.
Example: a student with an employed partner
Example for orientation, not a decision notice: a student lives with her employed partner in a flat in Bockenheim. The gross cold rent is 770 euros. The maximum for level VI for two people is 745 euros. At most 745 euros therefore enter the calculation; 25 euros stay uncounted. Income consists of the partner’s salary and a student-assistant wage. Because not all household members are entitled to BAföG in principle, the exclusion does not apply automatically.
A euro amount of housing benefit is named only in the decision notice. Further situations: Shared flat, Trainees, BAföG. Next: Application, Documents, Amount, Eligibility.
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