When a Jobcenter pays your rent only up to a local limit, you cover the rest from your own allowance. In 2025 that happened to 375,980 households on average, and the shortfall was €129.39 a month. The figures come from the federal government’s reply to a parliamentary question by the Left Party (Drucksache 21/8477, reported by the Bundestag on 15 October 2026).
That is 14.9 per cent of the 2.52 million benefit households whose housing costs were recognised at all, and about €651 million a year in total. For 2024, the government had reported roughly 339,000 households, an average gap of €118 and about €494 million. The total has therefore grown by about a third, the number of households by a little over a tenth.
Bavaria and Berlin: where the gap is widest
The regional spread is wide. In Berlin affected households are short €209.72 a month on average; in Bavaria it is €154.71, the second-highest figure. Rhineland-Palatinate has the highest share of affected households at 21.3 per cent, Bavaria 18.1 per cent. The lowest are Brandenburg (8.4 per cent) and Bremen (9.5 per cent). Where rents are high and limits tight, the gap grows.
The government offers no assessment of the numbers. It is specific on one point only: the Labour Ministry is drafting a bill on moving costs, as recommended by the welfare-state commission. No date is given.
Different rules since 1 July
The data date from the Bürgergeld era. Since 1 July 2026 the new Grundsicherung, passed by the Bundestag on 5 March, has applied. According to the Federal Labour Ministry, housing costs may already during the grace period (Karenzzeit) not exceed 1.5 times the local appropriateness limit; previously, actual costs were paid in the first year. Municipalities also set a per-square-metre ceiling so that small but expensive flats do not slip through. A rent that breaches the rent brake counts as inappropriate. Some websites say the grace period has effectively been abolished; the ministry describes it as still existing, but capped. According to buergergeld.org, people who received Bürgergeld before July keep the old rules until their current grace period ends.
Our assessment: the 2025 data do not yet show the effect of the tightening. With the cap from day one and the square-metre limit, the gap is likely to widen in 2026 and 2027, above all in tight markets such as Munich. How much will only be clear from the next figures.
What claimants can do now
Ask for the written calculation: the Jobcenter must state the limit and how it was derived. Under Section 22 of Book II of the Social Code, a demand to cut rent generally requires a written notice with a deadline. An objection (Widerspruch) can usually be filed within one month of a decision. Document your flat search – enquiries, rejections, viewings – because claimants who can show they are searching without success are in a stronger position. Illness, care duties and children’s schooling must be taken into account. Free help is available from the social counselling services of Caritas, Diakonie and AWO, the migration counselling for adults, and tenants’ associations.
For Ukrainians: those who arrived before 1 April 2025 generally receive Grundsicherung from the Jobcenter; for later arrivals the social welfare office under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act is usually responsible. Rent rules differ there, so check with the office in charge.
Sources: Bundestag (hib), Drucksache 21/8477, BMAS, VDIV, buergergeld.org
