Overview
- A Labor Ministry draft within the 13th SGB II amendment targets a July 1, 2026 start and now heads into parliamentary debate.
- Landlords would be required to provide standardized data on rents, occupants and billing via official forms, with fines up to €5,000 for non‑compliance.
- Housing measures also include recognizing rents only up to 1.5 times local limits and obliging tenants to contest illegal overpricing under the rent cap.
- Sanction powers would tighten, including loss of the standard rate after a first refused job offer and potential full benefit cuts after repeated missed appointments.
- Jobcenters already pause payments when people are deemed unreachable—about 600 test cases reported—while researchers advance a tax‑integrated Basisgeld model automated by tax offices with roughly €25 billion in full‑take‑up costs.