Last checked against the official sources: 29 August 2026
Yes, accommodation and heating are paid — but the real question is not “whether” so much as “how much, and when it stops“. Section 22 gives you a full year at actual cost regardless of whether the rent is appropriate, after which quite different rules begin. Anyone who does not know when that year ends is startled by a reduction letter they cannot account for.
The grace year and its limits — Section 22(1)
- Length
- One year from the start of the month for which benefits are first drawn.
- What is paid during it
- Accommodation costs at their actual amount, not at the appropriate one.
- A ceiling that holds even inside it
- Anything above one and a half times the abstractly appropriate amount is not recognised at all.
- Interruption extends it
- A break in payment of a month or more extends the period by the full months without benefits.
- A fresh period
- Starts from zero after three years without benefits under Book II or Book XII.
- An exception inside it
- Higher costs may be recognised where they are unavoidable or arise in a household with children.
After the year: the six-month rule and what stops it
When the grace period ends and your costs turn out to exceed what is appropriate, payment does not stop at once. The statute requires the excess to be recognised for as long as reducing it is impossible or unreasonable — by moving, by subletting or otherwise — as a rule for at most six months.
One detail reverses the arithmetic: the grace year is not counted towards those six months. The year and the six months run consecutively, not concurrently.
Then two provisions stop a reduction demand outright:
- A death — if a member of the household dies and the costs were appropriate beforehand, reducing them for the dwelling still lived in is unreasonable for at least twelve months after the month of death.
- Uneconomic reduction — no reduction need be demanded where it would be uneconomic once the costs of moving are taken into account.
And before any of that: where your costs exceed the appropriate level, the municipal body must notify you and inform you of the duration and conditions on which inappropriate costs are recognised. A reduction letter without that information is incomplete.
Before you sign: the prior assurance
This is the most consequential part of the whole provision. Before concluding a new tenancy you should obtain an assurance from the municipal body responsible for the new address. The consequence is explicit: costs higher than the appropriate level are not recognised after a move unless the body assured them in writing in advance.
And if the move is within the same area and was not necessary, no more than your previous requirement is recognised — an unnecessary move never raises your ceiling.
For young people the rule is stricter: for anyone under 25, accommodation costs after a move are recognised only with an assurance given before the contract was signed. The body is obliged to give it in three cases: where the person cannot be referred to a parent’s home for serious social reasons, where the accommodation is necessary for integration into the labour market, or where another similarly serious reason exists. Anyone who moves before applying with the intention of creating the conditions for benefits has their costs not recognised at all.
As for the move itself: housing-search and removal costs can be recognised with prior assurance from the old body, while the deposit and cooperative shares need an assurance from the body at the new address — and are to be provided as a loan, not a grant.
When rent falls into arrears: three protections few people know
Direct payment to the landlord. You are entitled to ask for the accommodation payment to go straight to the landlord. It moreover should be paid directly where proper use is not assured — the stated examples include rent arrears justifying extraordinary termination, energy arrears justifying disconnection, and concrete indications of an inability caused by illness or addiction. The body must notify you of this in writing.
Taking over debts. Housing debts may be taken over where justified in order to secure the accommodation or relieve a comparable emergency. They moreover should be taken over where this is justified and necessary and homelessness would otherwise follow. Available assets are used first, and the money is normally provided as a loan.
The court’s automatic notification. This is the least known protection and the strongest: when an eviction claim is filed following termination for rent arrears, the court notifies the competent body without delay of the date the claim was received, the names and addresses of the parties, the monthly rent, and the arrears claimed. The body learns of the case even if you never tell them — an opening for intervention that should not be lost to silence.
What to do, and when
- Work out today when your grace period endsOne year from the start of the first month of payment, plus every full month in which payment was interrupted. Write the date down — decisions will not remind you.
- Compare your rent against the 1.5× ceilingAnything above one and a half times the appropriate amount is not recognised even inside the grace period. It is the one limit the period does not protect you from.
- Do not sign a new tenancy before the written assuranceAn assurance given afterwards repairs nothing, and an unnecessary move within the same area does not raise your ceiling.
- Ask for the deposit expressly, as a loanIt falls to the municipal body at the new address, not the old one, and is to be provided as a loan.
- If a reduction letter arrives, check the notification firstThe body must tell you that costs exceed the appropriate level and inform you of the duration and conditions — and the grace year does not count towards the six months.
- With rent arrears, move before the claimAsk in writing for direct payment to the landlord and for the debts to be taken over. If an eviction claim is filed, the court notifies the body automatically — do not assume they are unaware.
⚠️ The grace period is not blanket cover: the 1.5× ceiling operates from day one. If your rent is twice the appropriate level, the excess is not paid even in the first month — the grace period will not save it.
Official sources
Section 22 SGB II — accommodation and heating · Section 20 SGB II
Please note: this page is general guidance, not legal advice. Every decision follows an individual assessment of your case, and the amounts are set by regulations that change annually — read your own decision letter and consult a social advice centre or a lawyer specialising in social law before acting.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Jobcenter pay the rent?
Yes. Accommodation and heating needs are recognised at actual cost so long as it is appropriate, and during a one-year grace period at actual cost regardless of appropriateness — except anything above one and a half times the appropriate amount.
How long is the grace period?
One year from the start of the month for which benefits were first drawn. An interruption of a month or more extends it by the full months without payment, and a fresh period begins after three years without benefits.
What happens after it ends if my rent is high?
The excess is recognised for as long as reducing it is impossible or unreasonable, as a rule for at most six months — and the grace year is not counted towards them.
Do I need approval before moving?
Yes. You should obtain an assurance from the municipal body responsible for the new address before signing. Costs above the appropriate level are not recognised after a move without a prior written assurance.
Is the tenancy deposit paid?
It can be recognised with prior assurance from the body responsible at the new address, and the statute provides that it should normally be given as a loan rather than a grant.
Can the rent be paid directly to the landlord?
Yes, on your application. It moreover should be where proper use is not assured — for instance rent arrears justifying termination or energy arrears justifying disconnection.
A family member has died — will I be asked to move?
Not for at least twelve months after the month of death, where the costs were appropriate beforehand; the statute provides that a reduction is then unreasonable.