Housing allowance is a government subsidy for the cost of owner-occupied housing. Students may be able to claim housing allowance in the following situations:

• If benefits under the Vocational Training Assistance Act (BAföG) are not due on the merits. This means that a rejection of the BAföG had nothing to do with income or asset imputation.
• If the BAföG benefits were only approved as a full loan
• If there are people living in the student's household who are not in education (e.g. children of the student, partner or parents).
   

Only if one of the described situations applies to you, it is worthwhile to deal with housing allowance.

The housing allowance is paid as a subsidy. The prerequisite is that you are able to cover your living expenses with other income or assets as well as the future housing allowance. If this is not the case, no housing benefit will be paid. The amount of housing benefit depends on the rent of the apartment, the number of people living in the household and their income.

Experience shows that housing allowance can complement a financing strategy well, but that student financing can never be based solely on housing allowance.

You can apply for housing allowance at the responsible housing allowance office.