Unresolved housing benefit application backlog persists at the moment.
Due to a recent overhaul in housing benefit regulations, there's been a significant surge in applications across the country, resulting in extended processing times. Despite repeated pleas from states and local authorities for streamlined procedures, these modifications are predicted to take at least another year. During a construction ministers' meeting in Passau, the Federal Ministry of Housing indicated that such modifications and simplifications would only commence at the opening of the subsequent legislative period. According to State Secretary Rolf Bösinger, it wouldn't make sense to rush through these updates during the existing legislative period and have to repeat the process later.
Housing benefit, also known as Wohngeld, is a financial aid given by the state to low-income citizens to assist with housing expenses or property ownership costs. The benefit amount and eligibility criteria are based on household size, income, and financial burden, with both the federal government and the states contributing equally.
The surge in applications
The revised regulations introduced at the start of 2023 expanded both the housing benefit amount and the pool of eligible recipients, causing a notable spike in applications and delaying processing times nationwide. Recently, various states and municipalities have raised concerns about the strain on their administrative bodies.
As per Bösinger, while there is unity between the federal government and the states in regards to the target and proposed simplification measures, disagreements surface over timing: the federal government prefers to assess the impact of the modifications in 2024 before making any changes.
Currently, the chairman of the construction ministers' conference, Bavarian Minister Christian Bernreiter of the CDU, expressed disappointment over the delays, mentioning Munich as an instance where the backlog sometimes exceeds 12 months. His North Rhine-Westphalian CDU colleague Ina Scharrenbach accused the federal government of breaching the agreement, arguing it is detrimental to applicants and municipalities. However, Hamburg Senator for Urban Development, Karen Pein of the SPD, defended the SPD-led Federal Ministry of Housing, stating that they have promised to implement simplifications, and that housing benefit application processing times are not universally as prolonged as 12 months or more.
The Federal States, including Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, have voiced their concerns about the prolonged processing times of housing benefit applications due to the surge caused by The Federal States' increase in eligible recipients and benefit amount. Despite disagreements on the timing of implementing simplifications to streamline these procedures, the Federal Ministry of Housing, led by State Secretary Rolf Bösinger, remains committed to addressing these issues during the upcoming legislative period.
