Wohngeld-Plus: what remains of the 2023 reform
As of: August 2026
Wohngeld-Plus denotes the 2023 reform stage of the Housing Benefit Act. It raised maximum amounts and reach and introduced a heating-cost component and a climate component. This stage continues in 2025 and 2026; a separate jump from 2025 to 2026 is not provided for. Wohngeld-Plus is not a separate type of benefit and not a second application. Anyone who receives housing benefit (Wohngeld) today is already on this level.
Not a parallel product, but the current stage
The term Wohngeld-Plus comes from the reform communication of 2023. Many searches still use it, although there is no longer an “old housing benefit” that could be applied for in parallel. Applications in Frankfurt am Main run under the current Housing Benefit Act – and that is the Plus stage.
You therefore do not submit a separate Plus application. The ordinary application is enough, the first time as a first application.
What the reform changed
Compared with the level before 2023 the reform moved several levers at once:
- higher maximum amounts of countable rent, stepped by rent level and household size
- a heating-cost component in addition to Annex 1
- a climate component in addition to Annex 1
- wider reach: more households lie mathematically in the eligible range
- the possibility of awarding up to 24 months in stable situations
Status 2025 and 2026: no further stage
The Plus amounts and the components remain the measure. A further statutory increase step from 2025 to 2026 is not provided for. Anyone who knows tables or decision notices from 2025 finds the same basic framework in 2026 – as long as the legislature does not recast the annex.
The local classification of Frankfurt am Main as Mietenstufe VI is independent of that and follows the Housing Benefit Ordinance. See Rent level and Maximum amounts.
Heating and climate as part of the Plus stage
Before the reform the maximum ended at cold rent. Since the Plus stage, heating-cost and climate components are added. The basic values in Annex 1 – for example 615 euros for one person in level VI – still do not include these additions.
The split is explained on the Heating costs page. Cold rent itself remains the gross cold rent.
What has not changed in the eligibility rules
Exclusions for Bürgergeld with housing costs and for BAföG in principle continue. Assets can still block a claim. Being in work remains compatible. The reform made the formula more generous; it did not lift the subsidiarity logic.
Read on: Eligibility, Bürgergeld, BAföG, Assets.
Award period and renewal
In comparatively constant circumstances the authority can award up to 24 months. The usual case often remains twelve months. Before the period ends a renewal application is needed; there is no automatic continuation.
The amount still follows the three factors. A Plus label on the decision notice does not change the calculation logic. Formula steps: Calculation.
Applying in Frankfurt am Main
The Housing Office (Amt für Wohnungswesen), Adickesallee 67–69, 60322 Frankfurt am Main, is responsible. Documents and household details match the ordinary procedure; see Documents.
A rent subsidy and an owner subsidy both stand on the Plus stage. You choose the type of benefit by the form of housing, not by the reform name: rent subsidy, owner subsidy.
Start your Frankfurt application
Submit application online