Overview
- Students must first test BAföG entitlement, and a recent Mainz ruling denied Wohngeld to a 50‑year‑old long‑term student judged not to be studying seriously and purposefully.
- Wohngeld cannot be received together with Bürgergeld, and guidance notes that some working Bürgergeld recipients may be better off switching after checking their case with official calculators.
- Families may combine Wohngeld with the Kinderzuschlag, though applications and payments run separately via different authorities and are transferred on different schedules.
- Heating costs are factored via a statutory flat rate and a climate component introduced with Wohngeld‑Plus and updated for 2025, with Miethöchstbeträge tied to local Mietstufen rather than a hard limit on square meters.
- Payments go to tenants by default, may be directed to landlords with consent or in exceptions such as arrears, overpaid amounts can be reclaimed subject to protected trust, and certain items like Kindergeld and a €1,800 disability‑related allowance are not counted as income.