income the office actually tests
The Wohnungsamt does not test your salary. It tests what is left after an employee allowance, up to three ten percent deductions and any allowances, and then compares that to five Berlin lines. Walk the three steps and the ladder below shows how far your gross falls before it is measured.
A flatshare cannot apply together and separate certificates cannot be pooled, so if you are three friends looking for one flat, each of you is a one person household here.
Maintenance you are legally ordered to pay comes off too. This ladder takes one allowance at a time, which is the common case.
Lines from the Berliner Mietratgeber, built on section 9 of the Wohnraumfoerderungsgesetz and Berlin's own uplift of up to 80 percent. Deduction rules from sections 23 and 24 of the same law, employee allowance of 1,230 euro from section 9a of the Einkommensteuergesetz. Your Wohnungsamt does the binding calculation. Checked on 14 September 2026.