Germany Updates Guidance on Wohngeld Eligibility, Overlapping Benefits and Payouts

Overview

• Authorities reiterate that entitlement and amount depend on household income, size and local rent level, with a minimum income requirement and roughly 1.2 million households currently receiving the subsidy.
• Wohngeld cannot be paid alongside benefits that already include housing costs, such as Bürgergeld (SGB II), Sozialhilfe (SGB XII) or Asylbewerberleistungen, and it is generally excluded with BAföG unless the student only receives a full loan without a grant component.
• Parallel receipt is permitted with so‑called priority benefits, including child benefit, child supplement, education and participation support, parental allowance, unemployment insurance benefits and pensions, with child benefit and the child supplement not counted toward Wohngeld and parental allowance only partially counted.
• Key items not treated as income include child benefit, the child supplement, education and participation benefits, care allowance and approved honorary or instructor allowances up to the statutory limit, with asset thresholds of €60,000 for the first household member and €30,000 for each additional member applying.
• Wohngeld and the child supplement require separate applications and are paid by different agencies on different schedules, with Wohngeld typically paid in advance for the upcoming month and the child supplement disbursed with child benefit based on the beneficiary number.