How does the home savings loan (Bauspardarlehen) work with the home-ownership pension (Eigenheimrente)?
Last updated: · under the rules from 1 January 2027 · Publisher: INTERNA · responsible: Marc A. Schnitzler, in mortgage financing since 2005
A home savings contract (Bausparvertrag, a savings contract with a building society) has a contract sum (Bausparsumme). This is the amount it can provide for you at the end: your balance including subsidies plus a loan from the building society (Bausparkasse). You save part of it, the minimum savings balance, yourself beforehand. The building society can lend you the rest, at an interest rate that is fixed from the start. Before paying out, it checks your income and the collateral, like any bank. The loan is only available for your own home that you live in yourself.
Example: one person, €150 a month, ten years
| Minimum savings balance 40% | Minimum savings balance 30% | |
|---|---|---|
| Your balance after 10 years | €23,400 | €23,400 |
| Home savings loan on top | €35,100 | €54,600 |
| Total for buying or building | €58,500 | €78,000 |
The balance consists of €18,000 of your own money and €5,400 of subsidies, if you are eligible, without interest and costs. Simplified example using typical home savings plan terms. The building society sets the interest rate, instalment and terms for 2027. With the home savings loan, in the example €58,500 instead of €23,400 is available for buying or building. Whether this lets you finance more home for the same monthly instalment than with a bank loan alone is calculated by your advisor with the current figures from the building society and the bank before you decide.
When you get the loan
You get the loan once you have saved enough, the building society releases the money and it has checked your income and the collateral. For the money to be released, you need the minimum savings balance and a certain savings period. The exact requirements are set out in the home savings plan terms; your advisor works through the figures with you. The loan must be paid off by your 68th birthday.
What the home savings route offers
- An interest rate you can plan with: The interest rate for the later loan is already fixed when you sign.
- Savings without the stock market: Your balance does not move with share prices.
- Repayment can be subsidised: With a home savings plan certified for this purpose, the repayment of the loan can also count as a subsidised contribution, meaning the part of the instalment that makes the loan smaller. Like the balance used, it is taxed in old age. Your advisor checks before you sign whether your home savings plan provides for this.
If you do not need the loan
Nobody has to take the loan. You can use only the balance for your home, pause your payments into the contract, transfer it to another subsidised contract or receive the balance as a pension in old age.
How much subsidy does your household get? The subsidy calculator works out in one minute how much subsidy you can get. An advisor then checks with you whether everything fits your situation. This conversation is free of charge and in English.
Calculate your subsidyFrequently asked questions
What is a home savings loan?
A loan from the building society for your own home. You can take it as soon as you have saved enough and the building society has checked your income and collateral. The interest rate is already fixed when you sign the home savings contract.
How big is the home savings loan?
Contract sum minus balance. If the minimum savings balance is €40 out of every €100, the loan is one and a half times as big as the balance, at €30 out of every €100 a little more than twice as big.
Do I have to take the home savings loan?
No. You can also use only the balance for your home or receive it as a pension in old age.
Read more
Sources
- Federal Ministry of Finance: questions and answers on the reform of private pensions (in German)
- Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 156: Altersvorsorgereformgesetz, the pension reform act (in German)
The money in the contract is meant for your retirement and your own home. If you have the subsidised savings paid out early, for example by cancelling the contract, you have to pay back the subsidies and tax benefits.
The examples explain the legal rules in simplified form. They do not replace tax or legal advice for your personal situation. Contract costs and interest are not included. This page was created with the help of artificial intelligence and translated from the German original. INTERNA is responsible for its content. More information