Leipzig approves new scheme to help people struggling to find a home

Leipzig’s city council, the Stadtrat, has unanimously approved a new funding guideline to help people who struggle to find a flat on the city’s tight housing market. The Leipziger Internet Zeitung reports that the scheme has a budget of 100,000 euros and works mainly through rent guarantees and agreements with landlords.

What happened

On 29 October, the Stadtrat voted on a document from the Sozialdezernat, the city department responsible for social affairs. Its full title is the “Fachförderrichtlinie zur sozialen Wohnraumversorgung von Haushalten mit Marktzugangsschwierigkeiten und Betreuungsbedarf nach §§ 67 ff SGB XII”. In plain English, it is a funding guideline for providing social housing to households that have trouble accessing the housing market and need support under sections 67 and following of SGB XII, the part of German social law that covers help for people in particular social difficulties.

According to the Leipziger Internet Zeitung, Leipzig has had a Fachplan Wohnungsnotfallhilfe (a plan for helping people facing housing emergencies) since 2018, and it has helped hundreds of people. The problem has not gone away, however. The paper says the tighter market is making it ever harder for people on low incomes to find a flat. The city developed the new guideline together with what the paper calls housing market actors. The Sozialamt, the city’s social welfare office, said that most of the landlords and housing companies it talks to regularly had asked for some form of rent security.

During the debate, Green councillor Katharina Krefft pointed out that one group was missing: young people. In November 2023 the council had passed a resolution on housing and accommodation for young homeless people (reference VII-A-08654-NF-02). The Greens argued that young first-time tenants are often refused tenancy agreements because landlords doubt they can pay. They also said the city does not record homelessness data by age. Dr Martina Münch (SPD), the deputy mayor for social affairs, health and diversity, accepted that this was an oversight. She took the Greens’ motion on board as part of the Sozialamt’s proposal, which the council then passed unanimously.

What it means for you

The guideline is aimed at people who cannot find housing on their own. According to the Sozialamt text quoted by the Leipziger Internet Zeitung, this includes people who are:

• homeless or at risk of homelessness
• part of a large family with more than three children
• in a precarious debt situation
• living with a mental illness
• being released from prison, or released within the last six months
• from a migrant background, including people granted asylum who live in a Gemeinschaftsunterkunft (shared accommodation for refugees)

Belonging to one of these groups is not enough on its own. The household must also have social difficulties that call for outpatient support under §§ 67 ff. SGB XII. It must also qualify for a Wohnberechtigungsschein, or WBS, the certificate that entitles you to rent subsidised housing. The support itself is provided by the freie Träger der Wohnungsnotfallhilfe, the independent charities and non-profit organisations that work with people facing housing emergencies.

The 100,000 euros will be used in two ways. Part of it goes to Mietausfallgarantien, which are guarantees against lost rent agreed between the Sozialamt and landlords with the tenant involved. Their main purpose is to stop rent arrears from becoming grounds for eviction. The rest will be used to negotiate rent price and occupancy commitments (Mietpreis- und Belegungsbindungen) with property owners. These keep a flat affordable and reserved for eligible tenants for five years. Landlords get a guarantee that the rent will be paid during the agreed period, and tenants get an affordable home.

If you think you might qualify, check first whether you are entitled to a WBS, since it is a requirement. If you are already working with a housing emergency support service, ask your caseworker about the new guideline. If not, the Sozialamt is the office responsible.

What to watch next

The Leipziger Internet Zeitung describes the budget as modest and calls the scheme a drop in the ocean. Keep an eye on how quickly guarantees and five-year agreements with landlords are actually signed, and on how the city applies the guideline to young first-time tenants now that the Greens’ motion is part of it. The rent and occupancy commitments are not permanent. They run for five years, so what happens to these tenancies after that is still an open question.

Source: Leipziger Internet Zeitung