Under certain conditions, municipalities in Bavaria must also provide accommodation to relatives of recognized refugees who have moved there.
This was decided by the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH).
The specific case involved a complaint from the Fürstenfeldbruck district.
He initially ended up before the Munich Administrative Court because the municipality of Eichenau had denied a place in homeless accommodation to a woman and two children of a recognized refugee living in the district's accommodation after they had entered the country.
The man's family was then initially accommodated in a facility for homeless women in Munich.
However, the administrative court there obliged the municipality of Eichenau to offer its wife and children a roof over their heads - against which the municipality lodged a complaint.
According to the Administrative Court, the municipality is obliged to provide accommodation to people who are not voluntarily homeless.
This also applies in the case of family reunification for refugees.
According to a court spokesman, the municipality of Eichenau argued that the family had essentially voluntarily entered homelessness without any prospect of permanent accommodation upon entry.
Then the municipality would not have been obliged to provide accommodation.
The VGH ruled against this view that the family had repeatedly applied to be accommodated in the community.
The fact that the federal government allows family reunification without proof of accommodation and thus increases the risk of homelessness does not release the municipality from its obligation to provide accommodation.
It may have been foreseeable for the mother and children that the family in Germany would ultimately not have a roof over their heads without such proof.
But that wasn't a voluntary decision to live on the streets.
According to the statement, there is no opportunity to challenge the February 15 decision.
bbr/dpa