Overview
- Under the law’s two‑year recalculation cycle, no routine raise is scheduled for January 2026, with the next planned adjustment due in January 2027 after an average increase of roughly 15 percent in 2025.
- Wohngeld is an individually calculated subsidy for renters or owner‑occupiers, and people already receiving benefits that include housing costs, such as Bürgergeld or Sozialhilfe, are excluded.
- A Fraunhofer FOKUS study reports low awareness and heavy paperwork burdens for eligible households and is feeding a federal‑state‑local modernization project with results expected by the end of December 2025.
- Local backlogs persist, with Dortmund citing four to six months for decisions and around 20 percent more applications this year amid uneven online application availability.
- Eligibility hinges on household size, income, and capped eligible housing costs set by local Mietenstufen rather than unit size, with a €1,800 annual disability allowance lowering countable income and asset limits of €60,000 plus €30,000 per additional person; awards typically run 12 months before renewal.