Rent Allowance

helen1 · 18-07-2011 12:41pm #1

Hi

I found a tenant who was on rent allowance for my apartment. We signed a lease and everything was fine until last week when the social welfare came back to say that the rent was in excess of the rental limit.
When he was moving in I agreed to reduce the rent from what was advertised and i have had a look around at other apartments in the area and mine is less than most of them so I think the rent is fair and i cant afford to reduce it anymore.
The tenant asked if it was possible to resign the lease and forms for social welfare with the reduced limit but he would continue to pay the original agreed amount. I am very reluctant to do this as i presume if it was found out I would be the person who gets in trouble. I think the main problem is that it is a two bedroom apartment and he is living on his own which is why it is above the limits.
Any advice would be appreciated.

okedoke · 18-07-2011 1:10pm

off-topic but the fact that rent allowance is sufficiently high to allow a single person rent a 2 bedroom apartment is unsustainable - expect this years budget to slash these payments.

Oh_Noes · 18-07-2011 1:15pm

okedoke wrote: »

off-topic but the fact that rent allowance is sufficiently high to allow a single person rent a 2 bedroom apartment is unsustainable - expect this years budget to slash these payments.

Did you even read the post above yours?

The tenant's rent allowance isn't covering the rent that the landlord here wants and the tenant wants him to change the figures so that he will recieve the rent allowance. The OP is reluctant to do this because it would be fraud.

ricman · 18-07-2011 5:06pm

i,ve never heard of a single person on ra ,living in a 2bed apartment, most people would be happy to get a nice flat under the ra system .IF i was the welfare officer i would be very suspicious of this application,id say get a 1bed unit.According to the radio current affairs programs ,the government is getting ready to reduce ra payments in the next budget.

hopskipandjump · 19-07-2011 3:17pm

helen1, presuming you will be registering with the PRTB and informing the Revenue of your rental income, you are better to declare you on the Rent Allowance form the correct rent you are getting for the property. There is a different Rent Allowance limit in each county. It is approx. €94 pw for a single person in my area and €110 pw for a couple. The limit increases if you have children.

hopskipandjump

BostonB · 21-07-2011 3:22am

Basically what the tenant is saying is they can't afford the rent. End of story.

Meathlass · 24-07-2011 11:39pm

Helen, don't put a reduced rent amount on the RA form. What I've seen happen time and again is the tenant gets into difficulties with the rent and arrears build up. They go to mabs to negotiate with landlord on arrears and you will only get your official rent that you put on RA form. You only have their word that the rent is a different, higher amount. Not to mention you're committing fraud.

Tell this person that they are not eligable to rent your apt with RA and readvertise it. If, as you say your rent is pitched at the correct market value then you should be able to rent it out to non RA recipients.

Treehouse72 · 25-07-2011 10:46am

Yeah OP, don't get involved with any of these shenanigans. Play it straight. The guy can't afford the apartment so you need to find a new tenant.

suecharlie · 01-08-2011 5:17pm

Can anybody please tell me when the rent allowance cheque gets posted out to you...is it the last tues or thurs of each month?:)

Aprilmay · 01-08-2011 5:55pm

Helen I know someone who works in the Social welfare in relation to RA and I was asking her what the limits are as I was thinking of renting my house - she told me if you sign for RA and charge the tenant extra - you will be blacklisted and you will not be allowed to take tenants on RA. So be careful of what your signing you will be the one that's punished

snubbleste · 01-08-2011 8:14pm

Aprilmay wrote: »

Helen I know someone who works in the Social welfare in relation to RA and I was asking her what the limits are as I was thinking of renting my house - she told me if you sign for RA and charge the tenant extra - you will be blacklisted and you will not be allowed to take tenants on RA. So be careful of what your signing you will be the one that's punished

That is because it is fraud.

Aprilmay · 01-08-2011 8:17pm

snubbleste wrote: »

That is because it is fraud.

Hence the reason I mentioned it:D

helen1 · 02-08-2011 8:08am

I have given the tenant a months notice to find somewhere else and I wrote a letter to social welfare explaining that when I rented out the apartment I wasnt aware of the limit and I that the tenant would be moving out. They have agreed to pay him the rent allowance at the limit for the months he has been living there.
I know the chances of being found out are pretty slim but i would be the person that would be found out. At least i know for the future what the limits are. Thanks for all the comments.

aissmythsmh · 03-08-2011 10:12pm

Sorry I cannot use this site prop - can anyone help with my Q below

Hi there, I am going to be a single mother in 5 months time. I am currently unemployed & on benefits (have worked all my life so timing is not good) with rent allowance of 66 per week currently.

I have to look for somewhere to live. At least a 2 bedroom house or appartment in Dublin. How much rent allowance am I entitled to per month & how is this paid? Is it paid into your account? I now pick up my money in the post office.

I heard it is 95 per week? Is this right? would really appreciate help here to make me feel better...

Thanks a lot.

aissmythsmh · 03-08-2011 10:14pm

Sorry I cannot use this site prop - can anyone help with my Q below

Hi there, I am going to be a single mother in 5 months time. I am currently unemployed & on benefits with rent allowance of 66 per week currently.

I have to look for somewhere to live. At least a 2 bedrooms house or appartment in Dublin. How much rent allowance am I entitled to per month & how is this paid? Is it paid into your account? I now pick up my money in the post office.

I heard it is 95 per week? Is this right? would really appreciate help here to make me feel better...

Thanks a lot.

meoklmrk91 · 03-08-2011 10:23pm

aissmythsmh wrote: »

Sorry I cannot use this site prop - can anyone help with my Q below

Hi there, I am going to be a single mother in 5 months time. I am currently unemployed & on benefits with rent allowance of 66 per week currently.

I have to look for somewhere to live. At least a 2 bedrooms house or appartment in Dublin. How much rent allowance am I entitled to per month & how is this paid? Is it paid into your account? I now pick up my money in the post office.

I heard it is 95 per week? Is this right? would really appreciate help here to make me feel better...

Thanks a lot.

It all depends on where you are living, its different for each Co. or area of the the Co. if its one of the larger ones.
There is a table on the Citizens information website telling you how much you will be entitled to. Visit the below site for that and other info.
[HTML]http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/rent_supplement.html
[/HTML]

aissmythsmh · 03-08-2011 10:48pm

thanks for that. yea it says max quota for rent is 930 but not sure how much you actually get per month & how it is paid etc thru post office??

meoklmrk91 · 04-08-2011 5:31pm

aissmythsmh wrote: »

thanks for that. yea it says max quota for rent is 930 but not sure how much you actually get per month & how it is paid etc thru post office??

You would have to visit your local SWO to find out exactly how much you are entitled to as each situation is different. But I can tell you that the â‚¬930 means that you are allowed to rent a house and get rent allowance for anything up to that amount. And how much you will be getting will also depend on how much your rent actually is. As for how you can get it, I'm not too sure on that one as most people i know who get RA get it lodged into either their back account or their landlords.

aissmythsmh · 11-08-2011 1:42pm

if your rent is 900 per month for an appartment for me & my child - so I need to pay the first 26euro per week. Does that mean the state pay the remainder?? 788euro? It seems alot for them & very little for me to pay? Is this right??thanks a lot

Treehouse72 · 11-08-2011 8:32pm

aissmythsmh wrote: »

if your rent is 900 per month for an appartment for me & my child - so I need to pay the first 26euro per week. Does that mean the state pay the remainder?? 788euro? It seems alot for them & very little for me to pay? Is this right??thanks a lot

I think that's correct, for Dublin anyway where I think €900 is the RA limit for mum + baby.

Rent Allowance

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