Heating costs and climate component in addition to cold rent
As of: August 2026
Heating and hot water do not belong to the gross cold rent. The Housing Benefit Act takes energy into account through a heating-cost component and a climate component that are added to the basic maximum in Annex 1. The 615 euros for one person in Mietenstufe VI do not include these additions. The landlord’s actual heating-cost statement does not replace the statutory components. Household electricity and a parking space stay outside.
Two layers: cold rent and energy addition
The maximum amounts in Annex 1 cap countable cold rent. They are deliberately drafted without heating. Anyone who reads the table value for one person in level VI – 615 euros – as “warm” mixes the two layers.
In addition the Act provides components for heating and climate. They raise the countable overall framework before the formula applies. The basic table remains on the Maximum amounts page; cold rent itself is defined under Gross cold rent.
Heating-cost component
The heating-cost component is a statutory addition to the maximum, stepped by the number of household members. It does not map the last statement of the property management, nor the consumption of the individual flat.
A mild winter therefore changes the housing-benefit figure as little as a balancing payment. Conversely, a credit statement does not reduce the basic amount in Annex 1. The component follows the Act, not the reading on the radiator.
Climate component
The climate component is likewise added to the basic amount in Annex 1. It maps energy burdens as a flat rate and is independent of Frankfurt’s rent level. Level VI chooses the cold-rent maximum; the climate component sits above it.
Both components belong to the reform stage of Wohngeld-Plus and continue into 2026. They are not a separate application and not a separate payout beside housing benefit.
What still stays outside
Even with the components the following applies:
- Household electricity in the flat does not count as rent and not as the heating-cost component
- Garage and parking space stay uncounted
- Hot water that sits in the heating-cost statement is not additionally counted as cold rent
- an actual balancing payment does not raise the maximum beyond the statutory components
Interaction with the formula
In the calculation the gross cold rent is first capped at the basic maximum. Then the heating-cost and climate components enlarge the countable amount. Only this sum stands against adjusted income.
Without the components the same household in an expensive, energy-burdened market would be systematically worse off. With them the payout does not automatically rise; income can still push the formula to zero. The logic of the amount remains in three parts.
Evidence: a statement yes, a substitute for the component no
The authority can request the last service-charge or heating-cost statement in order to separate cold rent and heat. The statement evidences the split; it does not replace the statutory component with the consumption figure.
Which documents are usual is under Documents. The same components above Annex 1 apply to the rent subsidy and the owner subsidy.
City-wide level, nationwide energy additions
Mietenstufe VI applies across Frankfurt am Main. The energy components do not depend on the district or on the individual heating system. District heating, gas or night-storage heaters do not change the statutory addition.
The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, remains responsible. Terms are explained in the Glossary.
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