Federal Minister of Construction Verena Hubertz (SPD) plans to meet the required budgetary savings for her ministry by restructuring the housing allowance system. According to a report by the “Handelsblatt”, a spokesman for the Ministry confirmed to the newspaper that they intend to fulfill their savings targets through a reorganization of the “Wohngeld” (housing allowance).
The Ministry must achieve savings of one billion Euros for the federal budget in 2027. Consequently, cuts to social housing construction or existing subsidy programs for new or established buildings are not options being considered.
The housing allowance is a supplementary subsidy provided to low-income households. The Ministry notes that approximately 1.2 million households currently draw this benefit, with total expenditures budgeted at 2.4 billion Euros for the current year.
While confirming the restructuring, the spokesman stated that they are committed to designing the allowance in a way that is both “fair and targeted”. However, the Ministry did not provide specific figures regarding potential savings, explaining that making concrete statements at this time would be “unprofessional”.