The rent subsidy granted by the Ministry of Housing helps low-income families to rent decent accommodation.

The amount of the monthly aid is based on income and composition of the domestic community.

The eTracking function for hardcopy (paper) forms is a feature of this process. This option allows users to track the progress of administrative procedures by email and/or by SMS.

Who is concerned

Any person of legal age who is legally residing in Luxembourg and who:

• has an income below the statutory limits; and
• has rented a dwelling or is about to.

The dwelling in question must serve as the main and permanent residence for the beneficiary of the aid.

Prerequisites

Eligibility criteria for the rent subsidy

To qualify for the aid, the dwelling being rented must:

• be located in Luxembourg;
• not be rented out by a public body (for example: the Housing Fund (Fonds du logement), National Low-Cost Housing Administration (Société Nationale des Habitations à Bon Marché - SNHBM), commune). It must be a private rental housing;
• comply with Luxembourgish health and safety regulations.

Furthermore, the applicant—whether a single person or several people living together in the same dwelling—must satisfy several conditions:

• they must not have another dwelling whether in Luxembourg or abroad;
• the income of the domestic community must not exceed a certain limit;
• the amount of monthly rent must exceed 25 % of the domestic community's income;
• applicants must have a regular income in order to benefit from a rent subsidy.

Income taken into account

The income to be taken into account is:

• income during the tax year preceding the date of the application for aid; or
• in the absence of such income, the last known income at the time the aid is granted.

The income of the domestic community which is used as the basis for the calculation is the sum of:

• all net income used to determine the amount of income tax (for example: salary, pension, annuity), minus social security contributions and tax paid;
• maternity or sick leave allowances;
• the parental leave allowance;
• maintenance payments received;
• accident annuities;
• income paid by the National Solidarity Fund (e.g.: Revis, allowance for severely disabled persons);
• gross earnings allocated for overtime hours.

The combined income of all people living in the dwelling rented by the applicant and who are registered residents at this place (for example: parents, the applicant's children or any other person), is taken into account.

Maintenance payments made are deducted from the income used as the basis for calculation.

Social benefits are not taken into account in the domestic community's income, such as:

• family benefits;
• back-to-school allowance;
• child allowance;
• cost-of-living allowance;
• etc.

Note: the above list is indicative only. The legal and regulatory provisions prevail.

Deadlines

The application may be filed at any time of the year.

How to proceed

Filing an application

Applicants must submit their application to the Housing Aid Service at the Ministry of Housing, using a specific form (see the section 'Forms / Online services' below).

The completed and signed form can also be submitted to the Housing Aid Service:

• by post; or
  
• by depositing the form at their offices; or
• by email to: guichet@ml.etat.lu.
  

Note: applications submitted electronically must receive confirmation.

Supporting documents

The application form must be accompanied by the following documents:

• a copy of the written lease contract, dated and signed by the applicant and the lessor, or any other document that can prove the existence of a verbal lease contract in accordance with the law on residential lease. The dwelling concerned must be the place in which the applicant domestic community lives;
• a copy of the salary certificate(s) for the year preceding the year of application and, in the event of a change in employment status, the last 3 salary slips;
• documents providing proof of any other income of the domestic community, if any;
• the last 3 rent receipts (or proof of payment of rent);
• a recent certificate of affiliation issued by the Joint Social Security Centre for the persons living in the dwelling;
• if the applicant is not a Luxembourg national, a valid certificate attesting to the applicant's right of residence in Luxembourg:
  • for nationals of the European Union (EU) or of a country treated as such (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland):
    • a registration certificate; or
    • a permanent residence permit;
  • for third-country nationals:
    • a residence permit or a long-term resident permit; or
    • a residence card (permanent or not) if the third-country national is a family member of an EU citizen or of a citizen of a country treated as such.

An application is deemed inadmissible and therefore not processed and returned to the applicant, if:

• it does not contain all the required signatures; or
• the address of the dwelling is not indicated.

If certain supporting documents are missing when the file is submitted, the agent in charge of the file will request these missing documents in order to continue the processing of the file.

Please note: the domestic community applying for aid must provide, upon request, all the information and documents that the Housing Aid Service deems necessary to process the application.

Assessment and review of the file

Initial application

The applicant is notified by letter of the granting or refusal of a rent subsidy.

In the event of a positive response, the subsidy is granted from the date the application was submitted, provided all the conditions were met at that time.

Review of the file

In the event of a change in income or in the composition of the domestic community, the applicant (respectively beneficiary) may request a review of their file.

If, in the course of the review, it becomes apparent that the applicant is eligible for a rent subsidy, the subsidy will be granted as of the date of the request for review.

If the aid is granted, then the files are reviewed each year by the Housing Aid Service.

If one of the persons applying for a rent subsidy leaves the domestic community, a new application must be filed by the remaining applicant if they wish to continue receiving the subsidy.

Denial or discontinuation of financial aid

The financial aid is denied or discontinued if:

• the dwelling is rented to the applicant household by one of their ascendants or descendants;
• the request contains false or incomplete information;
• the application does not contain all the required documents;
• one or more conditions for granting the financial aid are not or no longer met;
• the monthly amount of the rent subsidy is less than EUR 10 per year.

Amount and payment of the aid

The rent subsidy is calculated using the formula provided for by law. The amount of the monthly subsidy varies according to the composition and income of the domestic community.

The composition of the domestic community taken into account is that which exists on the date from which the monthly aid is granted.

In principle, the income taken into account when calculating the financial aid corresponds to the average income of the previous tax year. However, if during the relevant tax year the applicant or a person in the domestic community:

• had income from paid employment for only part of the year: the income obtained is to be extrapolated over the whole year concerned;
• did not have any professional income during the whole year: the last known income is to be extrapolated over the whole year concerned;
• changed employer, stopped working or started working (again): the last known income is taken into account and extrapolated over the whole year.

The rent subsidy is paid monthly.

Repayment of aid

The financial aid must be repaid if:

• false or incomplete declarations were made by the applicant for the granting or continuation of the aid;
• the applicant has failed to inform the Housing Aid Service of any change in their situation which could affect the granting, maintenance, modification or discontinuation of the financial aid;
• during a review of the file, it comes to light that one or more conditions are not or are no longer satisfied;
• the beneficiary of the aid sublets all or part of the residence in question.

Non-combination of the financial aid

The rent subsidy cannot be combined with any increase in the social inclusion income or income for the severely disabled ('rental supplement' - bonification de loyer) that may be granted by the National Solidarity Fund for the rented accommodation.

Forms / Online services

Authentic sources

Who to contact