Rent Supplement

Information

Rent Supplement is paid to people living in private rented accommodation who cannot provide for the cost of their accommodation from their own resources. In general, you will qualify for a rent supplement, if your only income is a social welfare unemployment payment and you satisfy the other rules - see 'Rules' below.

Under certain conditions, you can qualify for this payment if you become unemployed or your income from employment is reduced and you can no longer afford the rent that you were previously paying.

The amount of Rent Supplement you get will be calculated to ensure that your income after paying rent does not fall below a minimum level.

Changes in 2012

It was announced in Budget 2012 that the minimum contribution towards rent will increase. The new minimum contribution by single tenants is now €30 (an increase of €6 per week). Couples will pay a minimum of €35 per week. (1 January 2012) Income from working as a home help for the HSE will be taken into account in the means test for Rent Supplement. Rent limits were reduced on 1 January 2012 for new claimants. The new limits will apply to existing claimants when their claims are reviewed or if they move to new accomodation.

Rules

Getting Rent Supplement

Rent Supplement will only be provided if the accommodation is suitable for your needs and the rent is below the maximum rent level set for your county.

You may get Rent Supplement if you have been living for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months in one, or a combination, of the following:

• Accommodation for homeless people
• Private rented accommodation. You can combine time living in more than one rented accommodation to satisfy the 6 months (183 days). You must be able to show that you could afford the rent at the beginning of your tenancy and that you could have continued to pay rent but are unable to do so because of a change in your circumstances which occurred after you started renting.
• An institution, for example, a hospital, care home or place of detention

Or

• Be assessed in the last 12 months by a local authority as being eligible for and in need of social housing. If you don't have a housing need assessment, you must go to the local authority to have your housing need assessed. The local authority must be in the same area that you intend to live and claim Rent Supplement. Only when you are assessed as eligible for and in need of housing can you apply for Rent Supplement. Rent Supplement is not payable while the local authority is carrying out a housing needs assessment.

You must also:

• Pass a habitual residence test
• Pass a means test.

You won't qualify for Rent Supplement if you:

• Are in full-time employment (30 hours or more a week). However, if you are assessed as in need of housing under the Rental Accommodation Scheme and have been out of full-time employment for 12 months or more you may be entitled to the Supplement. (See 'Employment and Rent Supplement' below)
• Have refused a second offer of local authority accommodation in a 12-month period. In this case, you will not be eligible to claim Rent Supplement for 12 months
• Are leaving local authority housing without reasonable cause
• Are attending full-time education. However, if you are getting a Back to Education Allowance or participating in the Back to Education Programme you may be entitled to the Supplement.

Renting from a parent: You will not get Rent Supplement to help you pay rent to your parent if you are living in the family home. If your parent owns a second property, you will generally not get Rent Supplement to rent this property from them unless it is a bona fide tenancy and you are assessed as having a housing need. Your parent must also be able to prove that they have a history of renting this property.

Employment and Rent Supplement

You will not qualify for Rent Supplement if you are in full-time employment. That is, employment for 30 hours per week or more. (In the case of couples, if one of a couple is in full time employment both are excluded from claiming rent supplement).

Since June 2007, if you are accepted as being in need of accommodation under the Rental Accommodation Scheme by your local housing authority and you have been unemployed or not in full-time employment for at least 12 months before you start work you may be entitled to retain Rent Supplement. You may also be entitled to retain Rent Supplement if you have been participating in a Community Employment Scheme, Area Allowance Enterprise Scheme, or getting Back to Work Allowance immediately before you start work.

You will be reassessed for Rent Supplement and some of your additional income including some of your income from employment will be taken into account. As a result of the reassessment you may or may not continue to qualify for Rent Supplement. If you do qualify for Rent Supplement you may get a different rate of supplement.

Income taken into account for Rent Supplement

• Net income from employment (this is gross income less PRSI and reasonable travel expenses. Dependent children aged 17 and under in full-time education will not have their income from employment assessed as means for Rent Supplement.)
• Social welfare payments (for exceptions, see 'Income not taken into account' below)
• HSE payments (for exceptions, see 'Income not taken into account' below)
• Family Income Supplement
• Cash income (for example, maintenance)
• All income and the value of all property of which the claimant deprived himself/herself in order to qualify for SWA
• Capital (for example, property except your own home, savings and investments)

The capital value of property (except your own home), savings and investments will be assessed on a weekly basis as follows:

Income not taken into account when calculating Rent Supplement

Income from the following sources is disregarded or not taken in account when calculating the amount of Rent Supplement you will get:

• An amount equal to the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) rate for your household circumstances
• Child Benefit
• Mobility Allowance
• Foster care payments from the Health Service Executive
• Payments for accommodating children under the Child Care Act
• Income from Gaeltacht students
• Grants or allowances from schemes promoting the welfare of blind people
• Money received from charitable organisations, for example, St Vincent de Paul
• Compensation awarded by the Compensation Tribunal in respect of Hepatitis C contracted from certain blood products, to those who have disabilities caused by Thalidomide and to those receiving compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Board
• Maintenance grants paid by VEC or Local Authorities for educational purposes
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Pensioners: If you are aged 65 or over (or where one of a couple is of pensionable age) and have a combined household income greater than the rate of SWA appropriate to your household circumstances, the difference between the maximum rate of State Pension (Contributory) appropriate to your circumstance and the rate of SWA appropriate to your circumstances is not taken into account.
• Carers' payments: The half-rate Carer's Allowance is never taken into account.
• If you are getting Carer's Allowance, the amount of Carer's Allowance above the appropriate SWA rate for your situation (either the adult dependent rate for a couple or the personal rate of SWA) is not taken into account. So if you are one of a couple and getting Carer's Allowance the amount of Carer's Allowance being paid less the SWA adult dependent rate is not taken into account and if you are single or a lone parent the amount disregarded is the rate of Carer's Allowance being paid less the personal rate of SWA.
• Any amount of Carer's Benefit in excess of the basic SWA rate for your situation (either the adult dependent rate or the personal rate of SWA) is not taken into account.
• Rehabilitative earnings disregard: A certain amount of your income from rehabilitative work which is not taken into account. If you are getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, €120 from rehabilitative training or employment is not taken into account in the assessment for Rent Supplement. Any earnings over €120 from rehabilitative training or employment will affect your Rent Supplement. If you are earning above €120 you can be assessed using whichever disregard is most in your interest - either the Rehabilitative earnings disregardor the Household income disregard(but not both).
• Household income disregard: A certain amount of your household income is not taken into account. €75 of any additional household income*is not taken into account. Also, 25% of additional household incomeover €75 is not taken into account. There is no upper limit on the amount that can be disregarded.

Additional household income includes income from part-time employment or part-time self-employment, Family Income Supplement, Community Employment (CE), Back to Work Allowance, Back to Enterprise Allowance or FAS course. Maintenance is also assessed as additional household income (see below).

Maintenance and Mortgage Interest Supplement

Maintenance is assessed as additional household income(see above) and maintenance payments up to €95.23 per week are assessed in full. The household income disregard(see above) applies to maintenance payments above this amount. For example, if your only additional household income is maintenance, all of your maintenance payment up to €95.23 per week is assessed in full. The household income disregard of €75 applies to sums above this, so that any maintenance between €95.23 and €170.23 is not taken into account. 25% of all maintenance over €170.23 is also not taken into account.

Your contribution to rent

You must pay at least €30 towards your rent. You may pay more than €30 because you must also contribute any means that you have over and above the basic SWA rate towards your rent. If you are one of a couple and are claiming Rent Supplement you must pay at least €35 towards your rent - see 'Calculating Rent Supplement' below.

Any non-dependent household members who are solely dependent on a personal social welfare payment must also contribute €30. However, if benefit and privilege has been assessed against your social welfare payment you do not have to contribute €30. If the non-dependent household members are a couple their contribution is €35.

Calculating Rent Supplement

Calculating your Rent Supplement can be difficult. The Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) will decide if you are eligible for Rent Supplement and calculate the amount you will get.

Appealing a decision

If you are not satisfied with a decision made in relation to Rent Supplement, you should first find out why the decision was made by asking the Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer). You should provide any extra documentation to back up your case.

If the decision is not changed, then request an appeal form. Include as much detail as possible in your appeal and keep photocopies of everything.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you can refer the appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. You may request a personal hearing and you can bring along a representative to help argue your case.

Rates

The amount of Rent Supplement will be calculated to ensure that your income, after paying rent, does not fall below a minimum level. This level is the Supplementary Welfare Allowance minus €30 (or €35 for couples). This means you must pay at least €30 towards your rent.

Rent Supplement is paid weekly or monthly by cheque, Electronic Fund Transfer or post draft, usually in arrears.

The rent paid to your landlord (that is, your contribution plus your Rent Supplement) must not be above the maximum rent level set for your county or area. The maximum rent level for your county is set by the Department of Social Protection. However, the Community Welfare Office may set lower rates within these limits. There is a maximum rent level for each area. If your actual rent is higher than the local maximum, you may be refused Rent Supplement entirely.

Maximum rent levels for each county

These are the maximum rent levels from 1 January 2012 (the Community Welfare Office may set lower rates for areas within each county):

SI 221/07 sets down the maximum amounts of Rent Supplement payable is €55 for a single person and €60 for couples for tenants in voluntary housing developments (funded through the Capital Assistance Scheme).

How to apply

To apply, fill in an application form for Rent Supplement (pdf). Part of the form will need to be filled in by your landlord or their agent. Another part of the form may need to be filled in by your local authority, to confirm you are on their housing list and have a housing need, that is, if you are not exempt from this rule.

You will also need to fill in a separate Supplementary Welfare Allowance application form (pdf), this form is used to gather additional details relevant to your application for Rent Supplement. The Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) can help you fill in these forms.

You will also need to bring the following documents:

• Identity documents for you and your dependents, such as, full Birth Certificates, passports, driving licence, work permit, immigration (GNIB) card, etc.
• Documents to show your income and financial situation, such as, pay slips, P45, P35, P60, bank statements, etc.
• Documents to prove where you live, such as, electricity, gas or phone bills, etc.
• Documents relating to your tenancy, such as, your rent book, lease or tenancy agreement.

The Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) will usually visit you to confirm your circumstances.

Where to apply

To apply for Rent Supplement you should contact the Department of Social Protection's representative (formerly known as the Community Welfare Officer) at your local health centre.

However in some areas of Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow new Rent Supplement applications are being taken by centralised Rent Units. You can find out what areas have a centralised Rent Unit on the communitywelfare.ie website.

If you live in one of these areas you can get a rent pack from your local health centre. This pack contains detailed information (including a list of documentation you will need)and all the relevant application forms. You should read the information in the pack carefully. If you are satisfied that you have all the necessary documents ready you can forward your application to the relevant Rent Unit. The processing of your application may be delayed if you do not supply all the information requested in the pack. The Unit will contact you if they need any further information. If they do not need any more information they will tell you when your application will be processed.