Housing benefit

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Housing allowance in Germany is a social benefit under the Housing Allowance Act (WoGG) for citizens who, due to their low income, receive a subsidy for rent (rent subsidy) or for the costs of owner - occupied home (burden subsidy). The legal regulations on the granting of housing benefit (Housing Benefit Act - WoGG - and others) apply as special parts of the Social Security Code (see § 68 No. 10 SGB ​​I ).

history

introduction

The Housing Benefit Act came into force on April 1, 1965. Since then it has been adjusted several times. The original calculation idea, which compares household size and income with housing costs, was always retained.

Amendment from 2009

As a result of an amendment to the Housing Benefit Act , the average housing benefit increased from 90 euros per month on January 1, 2009 to around 140 euros. This was done through performance improvements. In detail through:

  • the summary of the building age classes at the new building rent level,
  • the increase in the maximum rent by 10% and
  • the increase in the table values ​​by 8%.

By reformulating Section 21 (insofar as the claim would be improper, in particular because of considerable assets) , the reasons for refusal were made more specific, so that, for example, assets must also be taken into account in the assessment that bring the applicant little or no interest income.

The new housing benefit will benefit around 800,000 households. The federal and state governments share the costs of around 520 million euros.

Changes to the Housing Benefit Act from January 1, 2011

The heating cost component introduced as part of the 2009 housing benefit amendment was deleted again with effect from January 1, 2011 on the basis of Art. 22 of the 2011 Household Supplementary Act (see Federal Law Gazette 2010 Part I No. 63). The federal government justified the deletion with lower energy costs.

After tough political negotiations, the Bundestag and Bundesrat introduced services for education and participation in the spring of 2011 as part of the so-called “ Hartz IV reform ”. The children in housing benefit households also benefit from this educational package.

Changes to the Housing Benefit Act as of January 1, 2013

Changes to the Housing Benefit Act on January 1, 2013 resulted in changes to protect against abuse of social benefits. With the update of Section 33 (5) WoGG, automated data comparison was introduced among the authorities in order to avoid illegal use.

In practice, this means that the housing benefit offices can automatically compare data with other social service providers that are relevant for the periods in which housing benefit was received. Applicants are informed about the comparison of personal data in the automated process when applying for housing benefit.

This is especially true for

if the receipt of these social benefits also provided for the assumption of the costs for accommodation.

The housing benefit office can also check in detail:

  • whether the members of a household are still receiving housing benefit even though they no longer live in the corresponding apartment
  • whether the housing benefit has already been received or applied for
  • whether there was or was taken up in the period of entitlement to social insurance or marginal employment
  • whether benefits from a pension or accident insurance related
  • whether and in what amount there is any income from capital assets
  • whether unemployment compensation or other benefits from the Employment Agency be claimed

reference

Eligibility requirements

Housing benefit serves to secure adequate housing economically as a "rent subsidy" for tenants of living space and as a "burden subsidy" for owners of an owner -occupied home or owner -occupied apartment ( Section 1 WoGG). The tenant of the apartment is entitled to the rent subsidy; this also applies if the person lives in a home ( Section 3 (1) WoGG). The owner of an apartment as well as persons who have a real right to the property ( usufruct , right of residence , leasehold ) can assert the burden subsidy ( Section 3 (2) WoGG).

In the case of housing benefit, the entire household is generally considered, so that the tenant or owner is also entitled to housing benefit if he is excluded from housing benefit himself, but at least one household member is basically entitled to housing benefit ( Section 3 (4) WoGG).

The household within the meaning of housing benefit law includes, in addition to the persons entitled to housing benefit, the spouse who is not permanently separated, a person living in a marriage-like community , relatives in a straight line or in a side line up to the third degree as well as foster children and foster parents, provided they are in a so-called residential and economic community living, that means living and doing business together. This is assumed by the authorities when they live together, but can be refuted. If parents living apart exercise joint custody of their children within the framework of the changeover model , the child must be taken into account with both parents if they look after the child in approximately equal shares ( Section 5 WoGG).

There is no entitlement to housing benefit if the claim would be improper, in particular because of considerable assets ( Section 21 (3) WoGG). The asset exemption limits are usually 60,000 euros for a single person and 30,000 euros for each additional member of the household.

In principle, foreigners can also have housing benefit entitlements during a stay in Germany ( Section 3 (5) WoGG).

Application process

Housing benefit is only paid on application ( Section 22 WoGG). The application must be submitted to the competent housing benefit authority, which must issue a written notification ( Section 24 WoGG). Housing benefit is usually granted for a period of twelve months; the application has retroactive effect on the first of the month in which the application was made ( § 25 WoGG). According to § 23 WoGG, applicants are required to provide comprehensive information, in particular with regard to the amount of rent and their own income.

In view of the large number of tenants and owner-occupiers who had lost their income due to the Corona crisis, the application for housing benefit was temporarily simplified in April 2020. Much less evidence was required to speed up processing.

In the case of legal disputes in the area of ​​housing benefit, the administrative court is responsible.

Calculation of the housing benefit

In accordance with Section 19 (1) WoGG, the unrounded monthly housing benefit for up to twelve household members to be taken into account is to be calculated as follows:

The size M is the rounded monthly rent or charge to be taken into account in euros; Y is the rounded monthly total income in euros. On the basis of Section 19 (2) WoGG, the exact calculation steps can be found in Appendix 2 to Section 19 (2) WoGG . The values ​​for a , b and c depend on the size of the household and can be found in Appendix 1 to Section 19 (1) WoGG . When calculating the entitlement to housing benefit for a single household member to be taken into account (i.e. one person lives alone in an apartment), a = 0.04 applies ; b = 0.00063 and c = 0.000138. With 13 household members or more, the monthly housing allowance calculated in accordance with Paragraphs 1 and 2 increases with regard to Section 19 Paragraph 3 WoGG by 47 euros each, but no more than the amount of the rent or burden to be taken into account.

The maximum rent amounts are graded according to six rent levels. Rent levels one and two are below the national average of rents, rent level three reflects the average, and rent levels four to six are above the national average.

The crediting of income takes place according to § 13 WoGG. In principle, the annual income is to be taken as a basis, which includes not only the sum of income within the meaning of tax law, but also certain tax-free remuneration according to § 14 Paragraph 2 WoGG. For certain household members, e.g. B. for people in need of care, an allowance is deducted according to § 17 WoGG, as well as lump sums according to § 18 WoGG to fulfill legal maintenance obligations. From the resulting annual income, a flat rate of 10 percent is deducted for income tax liability, as well as for positive health insurance and pension insurance contributions. Thus, a maximum of 30% of the income after tax exemptions is not taken into account when calculating Y. If you receive only tax-free and social security-free payments, a flat rate of 6 percent will be deducted ( § 16 WoGG).

Competition with other services

Housing benefit competes with other social benefits that take accommodation costs into account. This applies in particular to unemployment benefit II (as a subsidy), social benefit , benefits for trainees , transition benefit , injury benefit , basic security in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity , support for living , welfare for victims of war , benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act and care allowance under Book VIII of the Social Code can only be granted if the need for assistance can be avoided by paying housing benefit (and, if applicable, child allowance ) ( Section 7 (1) WoGG). The housing benefit is a priority benefit, so that recipients of unemployment benefit II in particular can be asked to apply for housing benefit as a priority benefit or the authorities can also apply for benefit recipients according to Section 5 (3) SGB II.

If, on the other hand, the accommodation costs are not taken into account (conceivable for a person under 25 who moves out of their parents' household without any guarantee from the authorities), there is an entitlement to housing benefit despite receiving other social benefits, provided that the person can ensure their own livelihood through a mini job .

There is a general exclusion of housing allowance for households that are entitled to vocational training allowance or BAföG , at least in principle ( Section 20 (2) WoGG). Basically, someone is entitled to these benefits if they could receive them or if they simply do not receive them because their own income or their parents' income is too high. Basically, someone has no claim z. B. in the case of a second training, if the duration of study is too long, if the subject changes, or because as a foreigner he is not entitled to benefits from the training grant.

Due to the budget structure, entitlement exists in the following cases, for example:

  • A single parent student lives with her child. The child then usually receives social allowance and is excluded from housing allowance. Because the entire household is considered for the examination of legal competition and the child does not have any education eligible under BAföG, the mother can receive housing benefit.
  • One student is married to one student. She loses her BAföG entitlement due to a change of subject. Both are entitled to housing benefit as a whole household.
  • A foreign student without a long-term residence permit cannot receive BAföG. He is therefore entitled to housing benefit. However, claiming housing benefit can mean that your residence permit will not be extended at the next examination.

statistics

At the end of 2015, around 460,000 households in Germany were receiving housing benefit (2014: 565,000 households), which was 1.1% (2014: 1.4%) of all private households. In 2015, the total expenditure on housing benefit amounted to around 681 million euros nationwide ; compared to 2014, housing benefit expenditure fell by 19%. The average expenditure of the state in 2015 was 8 euros per inhabitant.

criticism

According to some economists , the current form of housing benefit will be dispensable as a social benefit until 2012 because it competes with basic security benefits . The socio-political goal of providing low-income households with adequate living space is being pursued with both housing benefit and basic security. The existence of two social benefits with similar objectives leads to unnecessary double structures in the state administrative apparatus.

Compared to other countries

Housing benefit is also available in some other countries in the European Union. For example, in the UK, housing benefit is also paid on a substantiated application. In Austria there is a housing subsidy, which is considered to be one of the most important subsidies.

literature

  • Otto Stadler, Dieter Gutekunst, Christian Dietrich, Britta Breuer, Marcus Weidmann: WoGG - Comment. Boorberg, Stuttgart / Munich, ISBN 978-3-415-00561-7 ; Status: September 2019 (77th supplementary delivery).
  • Michael Klein, Stefan Schulte, Wibke Unkel: WoGG - Housing Benefit Act. Comment. 1st edition, Erich Schmidt, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-503-15830-0 .
  • Hubert Fröba: Advice on housing benefit. What tenants and owners need to know (= Ratgeber. Dtv, 50671; Beck legal advisor). Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag / Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-50671-7 / ISBN 978-3-406-57321-7 .
  • Ingo Christian Hartmann: Housing Benefit Guide 2020. The main points of the housing benefit decision. 11th edition. vhw Verlag, Bonn 2020, ISBN 978-3-87941-999-9 .
  • Richard Buchsbaum, Ingo Christian Hartmann and others: Housing benefit law. Comment. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-17-018071-0 ; Status: October 2019 (20th supplementary delivery).

Web links

Wiktionary: Housing benefit  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bethusy-Huc, Viola. Family policy: current inventory of family policy benefits and reform proposals. Mohr Siebeck, 1987.
  2. ↑ VwV-WoGG , Rn 21.36
  3. ^ Gasteyger, Stephan. Simplified application for housing benefit as corona aid. Home buying blog, April 2020
  4. ^ List of rent levels of the municipalities
  5. ↑ social law justament - 3, No. 11
  6. ↑ VwV-WoGG , Rn 20.21
  7. ^ Website of the Federal Statistical Office , accessed on September 13, 2017
  8. ^ A. Boss, H. Klodt et al .: Budget consolidation and subsidy reduction. (PDF; 3.6 MB) Retrieved February 14, 2012 .
  9. ↑ D. Fichte: Reduction potential in selected federal social spending. (PDF; 484 kB) Accessed February 14, 2012 .
  10. ↑ London cancels housing benefits for unemployed EU immigrants , faz.net
  11. ↑ Application forms for housing allowance in Austria , uni.at