Sources and method – Homeless people

These 15 topic pages are based primarily on statutory texts (gesetze-im-internet.de), official statistics (Federal Statistical Office), specialist publications of the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W, Federal Working Group for Assistance to the Homeless) and individual court decisions. The field "Evidence" on each topic page lists the specific sources.

Why homelessness is not a topic regulated uniformly at federal level

Unlike basic income support (Bürgergeld/Grundsicherungsgeld, SGB II), there is no federal law on the accommodation of homeless people. Under the constitutional distribution of competences (Art. 30, 70 GG), averting danger is a matter for the states; the relevant state police and public-order laws and the administrative practice of the individual municipality are decisive. For every relevant topic, these pages therefore state expressly that it is state law or municipal practice, and give examples from individual states instead of presuming a non-existent uniform federal rule. For basic social security (Grundsicherungsgeld, social assistance, health insurance), by contrast, uniform nationwide laws apply (SGB II, SGB III, SGB V, SGB VIII, SGB XII), regardless of residence status.

Two different statistics

The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W) publishes an extrapolation on homelessness in Germany (2024: around 1,029,000 people), which also includes forms of homelessness not officially recorded. The official statistics under the Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz (WoBerichtsG), by contrast, count only people who were accommodated in an arranged shelter on the reference date (reference date 31 January 2026: around 452,900 people according to the Federal Statistical Office). On the pages concerned, both figures are expressly marked as methodologically different and are not mixed.

Sources

1. Gesetze im Internet (gesetze-im-internet.de), Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, retrieved September 2026: consolidated versions of SGB II (§§ 4, 16a, 22, 36), SGB III (§§ 4, 35), SGB V (§§ 5, 256a, 264), SGB VIII (§§ 27, 42), SGB XII (§§ 11, 25, 36, 67, 68, 69), Bundesmeldegesetz/BMG (§§ 17, 20, 27, 54), Personalausweisgesetz/PAuswG (§§ 1, 5, 8), Personalausweisgebührenverordnung/PAuswGebV (§ 1), Passverordnung/PassV (§ 28), BGB (§ 569), ZPO (§ 721), StGB (§ 323c), OWiG (§ 118), AufenthG (§ 87), Grundgesetz (Art. 20, 30, 70), SGG (§ 84), Zahlungskontengesetz/ZKG. Basis for all sections cited in the text.
2. Wohnungslosenberichterstattungsgesetz – WoBerichtsG (gesetze-im-internet.de). Basis for the official homelessness statistics and their reference date (31 January).
3. Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), press release on the homelessness statistics for the reference date 31 January 2026, retrieved September 2026 (destatis.de). Basis for the official figure of accommodated homeless people.
4. Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W), extrapolation on homelessness 2024 and specialist positions on the legal bases of public-order accommodation, on Housing First, identity documents and health care (bagw.de). Basis for the specialist texts in the in-depth sections.
5. Gewalthilfegesetz (Violence Assistance Act), in force since 28 February 2025 (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 57). Basis for the information on the future legal entitlement to protection and counselling in cases of violence from 1 January 2032.
6. Dreizehntes Gesetz zur Änderung des Zweiten Buches Sozialgesetzbuch und anderer Gesetze, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 107, issued in Bonn 22 April 2026 (recht.bund.de/bgbl/1/2026/107). Basis for the renaming of "Bürgergeld" → "Grundsicherungsgeld", which took effect on 1 July 2026.
7. VG Schwerin, decision of 2 March 2015, Az. 6 B 1233/14, on the address on the ID card in cases of homelessness within Germany.
8. VGH Baden-Württemberg, decision of 6 July 1998, Az. 1 S 2630/97, and VG Düsseldorf, decision of 5 June 2023, Az. 18 L 896/23, on silent begging as common use of public space.
9. Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge, recommendations on assistance to the homeless (including DV 1/24, DV 17/14), retrieved September 2026 (deutscher-verein.de).
10. Frauenhauskoordinierung e. V., association figures on missing women's shelter places in Germany, retrieved September 2026 (frauenhauskoordinierung.de). Marked as an association estimate, not official statistics.
11. Provider information from Malteser Migranten Medizin, Ärzte der Welt, Berliner Stadtmission, Diakonie Hamburg, Caritas Hannover and project pages of Housing First Berlin/Hamburg and Bundesverband Housing First – each as evidence for specifically named services and pilot projects that are not officially consolidated.

Where information is expressly marked as uncertain

For some questions, no clear, nationally consolidated primary source could be found during research. This applies in particular to:

• a leading decision of the highest courts (BVerwG or BVerfG) that establishes the public-order duty to provide accommodation uniformly at federal level, and a comparable leading decision specifically on begging – neither could be verified beyond doubt; lower-court case law and state law are decisive;
• how the address on the ID card is to be entered correctly in cases of homelessness within Germany (statutory wording § 5 Abs. 2 Nr. 9 PAuswG vs. case law of the VG Schwerin 2015) – here the statute and individual-case case law contradict each other, with no uniform clarification in sight;
• whether and how municipalities accept c/o addresses in Jobcenter applications and how they handle registration "without a fixed abode" – both are purely administrative practice with no uniform federal legal rule;
• whether there are nationwide special programmes of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit specifically for homeless people – no clear confirmation was found, only local cooperation projects;
• the exact current fee for the ID card;
• the number of missing women's shelter places estimated by Frauenhauskoordinierung and bff – this is an association estimate, not official statistics;
• whether there is a nationwide statutory duty to give priority to families with children in public-order accommodation – no such uniform federal rule could be verified.

In all these cases, the topic page concerned names the uncertainty expressly instead of presenting a figure or assessment as settled law.

What this platform does – and what it does not

• Figures, deadlines, amounts and legal bases come from the sources named. Nothing was added that is not supported there. Where a statement could not be verified with certainty, this is stated on the page concerned instead of being guessed.
• Regulations that differ by state and municipality (e.g. on public-order accommodation, on special-use bylaws on begging or on registration practice without a fixed abode) are expressly marked as "state law" or "differs by municipality" instead of being equated with an invented nationwide rule.
• Social and public-order law remains in flux even after the 2026 reform; courts will only clarify some questions in future. This information is not a substitute for legal advice in an individual case.
• Deadlines are often short and run from the date of delivery. If in doubt, go straight to an advice centre, the Jobcenter, the Sozialamt (social welfare office) or a lawyer – see Advice and points of contact.