In Brandenburg, the number of housing benefit applications increased dramatically in the past year: According to statistics from the “Housing Benefits Procedure for Calculating and Paying Housing Benefits”, the number of first-time applications rose from 13,157 in 2021 to 18,947 in 2022. This comes from a response from the Potsdam Ministry of Infrastructure to a “small question” from the state parliament member Isabelle Vandré (left), which has now been published by the state parliament.
On New Year’s Day, a reform of the housing benefit will come into force nationwide. In the future, about three times as many households will be entitled to a rent subsidy from the state. In addition, the average housing allowance is to increase from around 180 euros to 370 euros per month.
The number of housing benefit applications has been increasing for weeks
From the point of view of the ministry, the planned reform is already having an effect. “The information on the extended group of beneficiaries that the federal government has disseminated online and in print media is already very effective,” says the ministry’s response. “This is reflected in the number of applications in the housing benefit offices, which has been increasing for weeks.”
However, the responsibility for applying for housing benefit lies with the municipalities. And they don’t feel sufficiently prepared for the new regulation at the moment. “We are becoming increasingly concerned about the development of the implementation of the Housing Benefit Act,” says Jens Graf, Managing Director of the Brandenburg Association of Towns and Municipalities.
Because the federal government was not preparing for the new regulation as it should: “This afternoon – on the Friday before New Year’s Eve – the letter from the responsible federal ministry with the administrative information on the new law was sent to us via the German Association of Towns and Municipalities ‘ says Graf. “This makes it clear that the federal government, despite all the efforts of the local authorities, assumes that the housing benefit offices will be significantly overburdened.”
Lack of time, lack of staff
The municipalities had made considerable efforts to prepare for the new regulation, but there was not enough time. In addition, there is already a shortage of staff in many administrations, also due to demographic change. “Personnel cannot simply be increased,” says the managing director of Brandenburg’s most important municipal association.
“What would be required would be a rapid provision of an electronic specialist procedure by the Federal Government, in which both applications are made and the administrative decisions are prepared in a largely automated manner.”
The member of parliament Vandré, who asked the question, therefore demanded on Friday that the state should support the municipalities in increasing the number of employees in the housing benefit offices. “In general, more relief is needed for tenants,” said Vandré.
From her point of view, the increase in the number of initial applications for housing benefit is not only due to the forthcoming reform: “The cost increases of the last year are now having an impact,” said Vandré. “More and more people therefore have a need for state support.”
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