Make it barrier-free
Where owners get 30,000 euros and where there is almost nothing
02/05/2026 – 07:32 amReading time: 3 minutes
Thousands of euros in funding or nothing at all: When it comes to barrier-free conversions, where you live determines a lot of money. An overview of what applies in major German cities.
A house entrance without a threshold, a floor-level shower or wider doors: barrier-free conversions are becoming more important for many owners if they want to live in their own house for as long as possible. But anyone hoping for government support will experience funding chaos in Germany. Depending on where you live, grants in the five-figure range may be possible or there may be no money at all, only loans.
An evaluation of the brokerage platform Aroundhome shows how big the differences are between major German cities. The funding programs for the barrier-free conversion of single-family homes in the 20 largest cities – at the federal, state and local level – were analyzed.
The funding is particularly generous in Frankfurt am Main. Owners there can receive grants of up to 50 percent of the eligible costs through the Hessian housing support program – capped at a maximum of 30,000 euros per residential unit. There is no income test. However, the prerequisite is that there is a level of care or a recognized disability.
In addition, there is a municipal modernization program in Frankfurt that subsidizes individual barrier-free measures such as bathroom renovations or door widening with up to 6,500 euros.
Hamburg is also one of the cities with comparatively high subsidies. Grants of up to 20,000 euros are possible for owner-occupied single-family homes through the Investment and Development Bank Hamburg. Unlike in Frankfurt, however, these are tied to income limits.
In most large cities, support is significantly lower. Düsseldorf supports barrier-free conversions with up to 10,000 euros per residential unit, limited to 20 percent of the recognized costs – also only after income verification.
Mannheim plays a special role: There, the removal of barriers in owner-occupied living space is promoted, regardless of income. The subsidy is usually ten percent of the costs and can rise to up to 25 percent in exceptional cases. This makes Mannheim one of the few cities that does not link accessibility to social need.
The situation is particularly sobering for many owners in North Rhine-Westphalia. In cities such as Cologne, Dortmund, Essen, Bonn and Bielefeld there are no municipal subsidies for the barrier-free conversion of single-family homes.
Instead, the state refers to the NRW.BANK programs. Although these offer low-interest loans for modernization and the removal of barriers, they do not offer direct subsidies. Repayment discounts of up to 50 percent are possible, for example if you need care or are severely disabled. The same applies there: Nothing works without income verification.
