By Alina Groening
The lack of affordable housing in Berlin is great. Around the former postal check office on Hallesches Ufer, 337 new apartments are now being built – three quarters of them will only be rented to people with a residence permit. But who even has the chance to get hold of one of the affordable social housing?
Around 1,099,900 households in the capital are entitled to a WBS because of low income, but the number of corresponding apartments is just around 88,000, according to a request from the CDU to the Senate Department for Urban Development in March 2023.
The apartments with WBS are marked accordingly on search portals or in the newspaper.
Six residential buildings will be built on the Postbank Tower site by autumn/winter 2024. Three quarters of the apartments are reserved for tenants with a housing entitlement certificate, costs from EUR 6.50 per square meter/cold.
In addition to affordable living space and a daycare center, around 250 social housing units are to be built on the site of the former postal check office Photo: Degewo
But how do I even get a WBS certificate in Berlin?
Anyone who lives permanently (11 months/year) in the capital and whose household income does not exceed a certain limit is entitled to a publicly subsidized apartment. Anyone can do this via the HBS Calculator check independently on the website of the Senate Development for Urban Development and Housing.
According to the Housing Promotion Act, the income limits here are 16,800 euros/year (single-person household) and 25,200 euros/year (two-person household). Surcharge for each child belonging to the household is 700 euros.
Where do I apply for a WBS certificate? What documents do I need?
The application is submitted to the responsible housing office in the district. Applicants can also get advice here on which documents are required depending on the individual case. The application forms can be submitted in advance via the Service Portal Berlin (www.service.berlin.de) can be retrieved.
A persistent problem that emerges from the CDU inquiry to the Senate: No checks are carried out to determine whether tenants who are entitled to a WBS actually live in the subsidized apartments – or whether they now have a higher income. The decisive factor is that applicants were entitled at the time the social housing was provided. No further checks are planned.