Housing Eligibility Certificate and Assignment of an Apartment; Application

The housing eligibility certificate is issued upon application by the competent authority (district offices, independent cities, large district capitals, or “large delegated municipalities”). Designation as such also requires the submission of such an application.

A distinction is made between the general and the targeted housing eligibility certificate.

• With a general housing eligibility certificate , a person seeking housing can , in principle, apply for a suitable subsidized (social) rental apartment anywhere in Bavaria. The general housing eligibility certificate precisely describes the scope of housing eligibility (in particular, the number of household members and appropriate apartment size).
• The targeted housing eligibility certificate is issued only for a specific apartment.

Certain subsidized rental units—particularly public housing units in areas designated by regulation as having a high demand for housing—may only be allocated to a housing applicant designated by the competent authority for that specific unit. In these cases, a housing eligibility certificate is not required.

The housing eligibility certificate is issued to the person seeking housing and the members of their household; in addition to spouses and children, this also includes certain other individuals with whom the person shares a common household and financial life. A prerequisite for the issuance of a housing eligibility certificate (and also for designation) is therefore, in particular, that

• the person seeking housing is legally and factually capable of establishing a long-term residence for the household, and
• the household’s total income does not exceed the applicable income limits.

The specific income limits depend on the particular apartment. For more information on the income limits, see “Related Topics” – “Social Housing.” To promote a diverse resident population, there is no uniform income limit for obtaining subsidized rental housing in Bavaria.

There is no deadline for submitting the application.

• Since eligibility for housing applies to all household members, appropriate documentation must be submitted for all household members, particularly regarding household membership and income.

• Proof of household membership for all household members
  Eligibility for housing applies to all members of the household.
• Proof of income for all household members
  Eligibility for housing applies to all members of the household.

• Fee for a specific apartment: 12.50 to 25.00 euros
  (Rate No. 2.I.2/2 of the Appendix to Section 1 of the Schedule of Fees)
• Issuance of a housing eligibility certificate: 7.50 to 20.00 euros; in cases of certain exceptions: 15.00 to 45.00 euros
  (Rate Nos. 2.I.2/3, 3.1, and 3.2 of the Appendix to Section 1 of the Schedule of Fees)