Housing benefit - rent subsidy for rented flats
If you only have a low income, you can apply for a rent subsidy under certain conditions.
Description
Simplified housing benefit application
The Social Department of the City of Munich has developed a simplified housing benefit application form (PDF). Please answer all the questions asked, if necessary with no depending on the circumstances, and enclose the required documents with the application.
Housing Benefit Plus Act from 01.01.2023
We are aware that the current situation is particularly challenging for many households due to rising prices. However, due to the improvements to housing benefits launched by the Federal Government at very short notice on 1 January 2023, there is currently a very high volume of applications and corresponding processing backlogs. Please rest assured that our employees are doing their utmost to keep processing times as short as possible. By submitting your application in full and with the necessary supporting documents and refraining from asking questions that are not absolutely necessary (e.g. about the processing status), you can also help to speed up processing
You can find more information on "Housing Benefit Plus" under Questions and Answers.
Housing benefit calculator
Before you submit an application for housing benefit, you can use the online housing benefit calculator(provided by Berlin) to calculate your monthly housing benefit without obligation on the basis of your details. Your actual housing benefit entitlement can only be determined by submitting a written application to the housing benefit office responsible for you and providing all the necessary documents.
The data you enter in the housing benefit calculator will not be saved.
Note: In input field 1.1, select Munich - not the district of Munich.
The application must be submitted by the person entitled to housing benefit (tenant).
If several household members fulfil this requirement, it is assumed that the person making the application is designated by the other household members as the person entitled to housing benefit.
The date of application is important. As a rule, housing benefit is only paid from the beginning of the month in which the application is received by the housing benefit authority. There is generally no housing benefit for periods in the past.
Housing benefit is generally granted for 12 months. After expiry of the authorisation period, an application for continued benefits must be submitted if you wish to continue receiving benefits.
Applications for housing benefit for housing outside Munich must be submitted to the respective municipality or district office.
Prerequisites
Housing benefit is a subsidy to ensure adequate and family-friendly housing. Housing benefit is only granted on application. If the legal requirements are met, there is a legal entitlement to housing benefit.
Whether and to what extent you are entitled to housing benefit depends on
- the number of household members to be taken into account
- the total income and
- the amount of rent/charges for the accommodation to be taken into account
In order to receive housing benefit (rent subsidy), you must submit an application to the local housing benefit office.
The date of application is important here. As a rule, housing benefit is only paid from the beginning of the month in which the application is received by the housing benefit office. Housing benefit is not generally paid for periods in the past.
Rent allowance can be granted for
- Tenants of a flat or room,
- tenants with similar rights of use, in particular holders of a permanent tenancy right,
- Owners of an apartment building (three or more flats), a commercial building or business, if they live in this building,
- Residents of a care home within the meaning of the Care Home Act, provided they are not only temporarily admitted.
You cannot apply for housing benefit for a second home.
Persons who receive a state social benefit that also includes the costs of accommodation are not entitled to housing benefit. These are in particular recipients of
- Basic income support according to the Twelfth Book of the German Social Code
- Citizen's allowance according to the Second Book of the Social Code
- Social benefit and
- Assistance towards living expenses according to the Twelfth Book of the German Social Code.
Persons who are in training, live alone and are entitled to training grants are also not entitled to housing benefit.
Required documents
The following documents must be enclosed with the application for housing benefit (if applicable).
Proof of the gross income of all persons in the household
- for employees (including mini-jobs and marginal employment): Certificates of earnings including proof of training allowances (form available from the housing benefit office or on the Internet, from the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior)
- for pensioners: Pension notices, including company, works and company pensions, as well as pensions with the latest change notifications (pension notifications)
- for income taxpayers (unless proof can be provided by means of a certificate of earnings)
last income tax assessment notice
last income tax return - for recipients of maintenance payments: Proof of the type, amount and recipient of the benefits (maintenance order, maintenance agreements, confirmations, payment receipts)
- for children: Proof of child benefit or a comparable benefit
- for unemployed persons: notice of authorisation or benefit notification from the employment office regarding unemployment benefit
- for persons in training: Proof of the type, amount and recipient of the training grant(e.g. BAföG, vocational training grant)
- for recipients of benefits from the Munich Job Centre, social assistance or war victims' welfare: proof of the type, amount and recipient of the benefits
- Proof of other income(such as proof of interest income or other investment income, rental income, benefits from third parties, including on a loan basis if applicable, benefits in kind, grants from scholarships, sick pay, parental allowance, maternity pay)
Proof of rent
- Tenancy agreement and supplementary agreements, last rent increase letter, e.g. bank statements, rent receipts,
- Proof of subletting(subletting agreement, confirmation, payment receipts)
- in the case of commercial or professional use, subletting or other transfer of living space to third parties for a fee or free of charge: Calculation of living space
Other evidence
- Proof of increased income-related expenses and declaration of the amount of income-related expenses to be expected again
- Proof of childcare costs (contracts, invoices and proof of payment)
- Proof of fulfilment of statutory maintenance obligations with details of the type and amount of benefits and the person(s) entitled to receive them
- for persons undergoing training: Proof of type of training and place of training
- for severely disabled persons: severely disabled person's pass or assessment notice
- for persons in need of care (receiving care at home): Proof of the need for care within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Social Security Code XI (care allowance notification)
- for victims of National Socialist persecution and their equals within the meaning of the Federal Compensation Act: Proof of membership of this group of persons
If you submit bank statements as proof, you may black out the purpose or recipient of a transfer - but not the amount - if it concerns special categories of personal data (Art. 9 para. 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation). These are data relating to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.
You can obtain the application form
- at the information desks in the Office for Housing and Migration and in the social centres
- at the city information centre in the town hall
- on the Internet: " Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Building and Transport
Where do I apply?
Applications for rent and encumbrance allowances in the city of Munich are processed at the Office for Housing and Migration, Werinherstr. 87, 81541 Munich. You can submit the application by post to the postal address Amt für Wohnen und Migration Werinherstr 89, 81541 Munich or hand it in at the information desks.
If you wish to see your case officer in person, you will need to make an appointment in advance.
Please bear in mind that only a fully completed and signed application and the submission of the required documents will enable rapid processing.
The Housing Benefit Office is obliged to check the plausibility of your income details. It is therefore in your own interest to provide information on your income not only for the calculation of the income relevant for housing benefit purposes, but also for a proper decision on the housing benefit application.
Questions & Answers
The Housing Benefit Plus Act is currently still in the legislative process. From 1 January 2023, Housing Benefit Plus will triple the number of people entitled to housing benefit and more than double the average monthly housing benefit amount.
Heating costs will be taken into account in the form of a flat-rate supplement, which will be included in the housing benefit calculation.
A climate component, also in the form of a lump sum, will take account of any increased cold rents through higher maximum amounts.
All households that have been granted housing benefit for at least one month within the period from September to December 2022 will receive a further one-off heating allowance.
For housing benefit households, the one-off subsidy - staggered according to the number of people - amounts to
- One-person household 415 euros,
- Two-person household 540 euros, and 100 euros for each additional person.
Note: The subsidy does not have to be applied for. It is paid out ex officio. Payment is expected to be made during the 1st quarter of 2023.
Households that have been granted housing benefit until 2023 do not need to do anything. In the first few months of 2023, a new decision will be made ex officio about the period in 2023 and a new notification will be issued. Any higher housing benefit from the beginning of the year will be paid automatically.
For an initial very rough estimate of whether your (gross) income will still be above the income limits in 2023, you can take a look at the following sample income limits. Please note the explanations attached to the overview:
Taking your own rent into account, you can use the following calculator to estimate your potential housing benefit entitlement without obligation:
You can find an overview of the necessary forms and documents as well as the requirements and deadlines to be met on our page under Required documents.
We expect that the number of housing benefit applications could increase by more than 250 per cent in the short term from January 2023. This is likely to lead to significantly longer processing times of over a year. However, housing benefit will be granted and paid to you from the month of application if the requirements are met.
Legal basis
§ Section 22 Housing Benefit Act
Sozialreferat
Bewilligungsstelle für Wohngeld
Phone
Postal address
Landeshauptstadt München
Sozialreferat
Bewilligungsstelle für Wohngeld
Werinherstraße 89
81541 München
Address
Werinherstraße 87
81541 München
Personal consultations are only possible after prior appointment by telephone for urgent exceptional cases. Tel.: 089 / 233 - 49250.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8.30 am to 12 noon,
Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 5 pm
Waiting numbers are generally issued until 11.30 a.m.; if there is a high volume of customers, only until 11 a.m. and Wednesday afternoons until 4.30 p.m.