Accommodation costs in the Göttingen district

Adequacy limits for accommodation costs within the meaning of Section 22 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 SGB II, Section 35 Paragraphs 1 and 2 SGB XII and Section 3 Paragraph 3 Sentence 3 AsylbLG

For years, various proceedings before the social courts have been contesting reductions in housing costs (basic rent and so-called "cold" utility costs) for social welfare recipients. According to case law, social welfare agencies are obligated to conduct conclusive housing market surveys, based on which so-called reasonable limits for housing costs within the basic income support system are to be established. The Göttingen district, as the responsible agency, repeatedly attempts to justify its own, and in our opinion far too low, reasonable limits by commissioning expert opinions from private companies. We have already critically examined such expert opinions three times (F+B report from 2009, A+K report from 2013 , and IWU report from 2017) and presented our findings in the social court proceedings.  

The legal dispute concerning the applicability of the so-called F+B report for determining reasonable housing cost limits for social welfare recipients was decided by the Federal Social Court in its ruling of November 28, 2014 (Case No.: B 14 AS 215/14 B). This ruling upheld the jurisprudence of the Hildesheim Social Court (e.g., Hildesheim Social Court, judgment of December 9, 2011, Case No.: 23 AS 1911/10), according to which the F+B report was not based on a coherent concept for surveying the rental housing market in Göttingen.

The expert opinion commissioned by the Göttingen district from the company A+K in March 2013 was also deemed inconclusive in accordance with the jurisprudence of the Federal Social Court by the Hildesheim Social Court in various main proceedings in February and March 2017 (e.g., judgments of March 3, 2017, case numbers: S 26 AS 220/16, S, 26 AS 306/16, S 26 AS 315/16). These decisions were upheld by the Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court in its judgment of April 2, 2019 – case number: L 6 AS 467/17 .

Since 2017, the Göttingen district has been using an expert opinion from the company IWU, which was last updated in 2019. Several legal proceedings concerning this expert opinion are pending before the social courts, as we have comprehensively challenged its validity. A decision is still pending.

For the jurisdiction of the Göttingen district, the social courts, in accordance with the jurisprudence of the Federal Social Court, apply the values ​​from the appendix to Section 12 of the Housing Benefit Act (WoGG ) plus a 10% safety margin to determine the limits of reasonableness for basic income support benefits in cases of data collection failures by social welfare agencies. Should the IWU (Independent Housing Unit) also be found to be inconclusive, as expected, there will still be significant differences between the limits of reasonableness set by the Göttingen district and the limits applied by the Hildesheim Social Court for the Göttingen district.

The following tables also show the adequacy limit applied by the Hildesheim Social Court for the Göttingen district since January 1, 2022 (1) and the adequacy limit set by the Göttingen district (2). The information in the tables is provided without guarantee and does not create any legal claim. It is for informational purposes only. 

(1) Limits of appropriateness applied by the Social Court of Hildesheim for the area of ​​responsibility of the district of Göttingen since 1 January 2022, when the expert opinion of the company IWU is considered inconclusive:

Persons in a household with shared needs1 person2 people3 people4 people5 people
Living space in square meters
up to 50
> 50  ≤ 60
> 60  ≤ 75
> 75  ≤ 85 > 85  ≤ 95 






Göttingen (Rent Level IV)525,80 €636,90 €757,90 €883,30 €1.009,80 €
Bovenden (Rental Level II)419,10 €507,10 €603,90 €705,10 €805,20 €
Rosdorf (Rental Level III)468,60 €567,60 €675,40 €787,60 €899,80 €
Adelebsen (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Dransfeld (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Friedland (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Hann. Münden (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Staufenberg (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Gieboldehausen (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Gleichen (Rent Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Radolfshausen (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Duderstadt (Rental Level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €
Remaining area of ​​the district (rent level I)371,80 €449,90 €535,70 €624,80 €713,90 €

For each additional person beyond 5 people, the courts have determined a surcharge of €84.70 in rent level I, €96.80 in rent level II, €108.90 in rent level III and €122.10 in rent level IV.

(2) The Göttingen district has determined, on the basis of the IWU report from 2017 and updated in 2019, limits of appropriateness until further notice (unrounded – the Göttingen district rounds up in its information letters):  

Persons in a household with shared needs1 person2 people3 people4 people5 people
Living space in square meters
up to 50
> 50 ≤ 60
> 60  ≤ 75
> 75  ≤ 85
> 85  ≤ 95 






Göttingen city area490,61 €557,28 €624,64 €739,54 €866,00 €
Adelebsen, Dransfeld, Friedland / Gleichen / Radolfsheim.357,35 €432,85 €524,16 €630,98 €701,19 €
Hann. Münden, Staufenberg339,37 €432,43 €482,23 €534,41 €637,12 €
Duderstadt, Gieboldehausen352,84 €418,02 €482,23 €541,64 €667,59 €
Bovenden / Rosdorf 409,79 €475,08 €580,14 €667,34 €794,43 €

For each additional person beyond 5 people, the district charges a surcharge of €91.00 for the city of Göttingen (rent level IV).

For questions and comments, please send an email to: kontakt@anwaltskanzlei-adam.de.