Apply for a housing subsidy
If you make expenditures to promote housing construction, you can apply for a housing construction premium. Expenses to promote housing construction are in particular payments into a building savings contract, but also other payments, e.g. for the first purchase of shares in a building or housing cooperative.
The housing construction premium amounts to 10% per year (until 2020: 8.8%) of your expenses. For each savings year, the maximum expenses to be taken as a basis for promoting housing construction are:
- 700 euros (until 2020: 512 euros) if you are single, or
- 1.400 euros (until 2020: 1,024 euros) if you are married or have entered into a civil partnership.The savings year is the calendar year in which you made the expenditure.
The housing construction premium is not subject to income tax.
Responsible department
Your investment institution e.g. the building society
Details
Prerequisite
You can apply for the housing subsidy if
- You have reached the age of 16 by the end of the savings year at the latest,
- Your taxable income, taking into account the tax allowances for children in the savings year, is no more than
- 35.000 euros (until 2020: 25,600 euros) if you are single, or
- 70.000 euros (until 2020: 51,200 euros) if you are married or have entered into a civil partnership.
Attention: You cannot receive the employee savings allowance and a housing construction premium for capital-forming benefits at the same time. This excludes the possibility of a double benefit. Therefore, the expenses for the promotion of housing construction must not be capital-forming benefits (VL) for which there is an entitlement to the employee savings allowance. If you cannot apply for an employee savings allowance, for example because you exceed the income limits, the VL can be included in the application for a housing construction premium.
Procedure
You must apply for the housing construction premium at your investment institution. To do so, use the form sent to you by your investment institution together with the annual account statement.
If you concluded your home loan and savings contract before 1 January 2009:
The housing construction premium is only due for payments into a building savings contract when
- the statutory blocking period of seven years after conclusion of the contract has expired, or
- the accumulated credit balance (including the housing construction premium) from the contract is or is to be used immediately and directly for housing construction or other housing purposes after payment.
If you use the accumulated credit balance for other purposes within the seven-year blocking period, you will no longer be entitled to the housing construction premium.
If you concluded your home loan and savings contract after 1 January 2009:
The housing construction premium is only due for payments into a building savings contract when
- the statutory lock-up period of seven years after conclusion of the contract has expired and
- You are or were not older than 25 years at the time the contract was concluded, or
- the accumulated credit balance (including the housing construction premium) from the contract is or is to be used immediately and directly for housing construction or other housing purposes after payment.
Deadlines
until the end of the second calendar year following the savings year
Required documents
none
Costs
none
Miscellaneous
none
Release note
- 18.09.2023 Bundesfinanzministerium