Social affairs - Significantly higher expenditure for local authorities due to housing benefit
Significantly more people have received housing benefit in Saxony-Anhalt this year. However, this has also led to a significant increase in local authority expenditure, according to a survey conducted by the German Press Agency. In some cases, local authorities are expecting expenditure on housing benefit to almost triple.
In the state capital of Magdeburg, this had already amounted to more than 1.6 million euros by October, according to a city spokesperson. A year earlier, expenditure on housing benefit had amounted to around 580,000 euros. The city of Weißenfels is also expecting expenditure of 1.7 million euros by the end of the year, while housing benefit amounting to just under 657,000 euros was paid out in 2022 as a whole.
On the one hand, the increase is due to a higher number of applications. On the other hand, the federal government has almost doubled the amount paid out with the "Housing Benefit Plus" program. According to the federal government, housing benefit has risen from an average of 180 euros per month to an average of 370 euros.
Not as many applications as initially feared - but high volume
When the housing benefit reform was announced last year, cities and local authorities across Germany had expected applications to triple in some places. The overall increase was not that high. In Saxony-Anhalt, between 18 percent and almost 70 percent more applications were submitted to the responsible cities. The associated challenges are great, explained Ingo Gottschalk, Magdeburg's social welfare officer. Although new employees have been trained, this also takes time. As a result, around 2500 applications are still outstanding.
In many cities such as Stendal, Aschersleben and Köthen, the number of applications rose by a good third in the first three quarters of the year. According to the information, there were particularly many applications in Quedlinburg and Halle. A spokesperson said that the number of applications there was now rising again towards the end of the year.
According to the cities, processing times range from four weeks, such as in Naumburg, to up to six months in the state capital.
Information from the federal government on housing benefit reform
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- Despite anticipating a triple increase in applications, the overall increase in housing benefit applications in Saxony-Anhalt was not as high as anticipated, with a range of 18% to almost 70% more applications submitted to responsible cities.
- The city of Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt, has already spent over 1.6 million euros on housing benefit by October, more than triple the amount spent in the same period last year.
- The German Press Agency's survey found that some municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt are expecting their housing benefit expenditure to nearly triple due to increased applications and the federal government's "Housing Benefit Plus" program, which has nearly doubled the amount paid out.
- In Weißenfels, another city in Saxony-Anhalt, housing benefit expenditure is projected to reach 1.7 million euros by the end of the year, a significant increase from just under 657,000 euros paid out in 2022.
- The white rock commune, like many other cities in Saxony-Anhalt, has seen a substantial rise in housing benefit applications, leading to challenges in processing times and a backlog of around 2500 applications yet to be processed.
Source: www.stern.de
