Overview

• Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed uniform maximum housing costs and apartment-size limits for Bürgergeld recipients to rein in welfare spending
• Peter Schmiedel and other job center leaders argue flat-rate caps overlook regional market differences and could be overturned by courts
• CDA head Dennis Radtke decried inflated landlord rents as “state-funded abuse” and wants job centers to lawfully reject overcharges under existing rules
• Data from March show 92 percent of recipients comply with adequate rent limits while about 220,000 households exceed them, including 20,000 singles in apartments of 100 sqm or more
• Housing Minister Verena Hubertz secured a €23.5 billion social housing investment package through 2029 to ease shortages and curb rent inflation