RAS Scheme

Busterie

Today sees a ban on people advertising property as "no RAS sheme".
Totally pointless as far as I can see.
I have a property in Galway I advertised as "RAS Scheme available" and got no enquiries.
I phoned Threshold to know if they knew anyone who would be interested, someone took a message saying I would get a call back , got no call.
I had a city Councillor on to me 18 months ago enquiring for a local resident.
I called him this time left a message again no call back.
It has cost over €1000 to get the property ready to meet RAS standards, total waste of money.

pc7

Busterie wrote: »

It has cost over €1000 to get the property ready to meet RAS standards, total waste of money.

Well not really because you should have property at a decent standard anyhow, would you not rent it out privately now if it is ready.

Busterie

Ridiculous, the house is fine condition.
I had to pay €300 for an engineer to say the house was in accordance with planning permission.
€170 for for an electrician to say the electrics are in order.
€150 for childproof windows, 15 minute extractor for bathroom etc etc.
My point is the talk of shortage of available houses is a media hype .

Michael D Not Higgins

Where is the house? If it's in a rural location maybe there's no one who wants to live there or doesn't have the means to travel to/from local services.

Busterie

It is in an urban area.
It was laughable to hear Kieran Mulvey on the 1 o'clock news say he didn't know his organisation was responsible to enforce the new rules on banning " no RAS Scheme" ads, and had no resources to do it.
This daft idea will only serve to drive more private landlords to cut their losses and get out.

handlemaster

I would think is in a rough area if your not getting interest. .

Busterie

It is anything but a rough area.
You really are groping for a reason to avoid the facts.

Mrs OBumble

The council are putting people in emergency accommodation. If they thought you were suitable as a LL, they would have no time lost placing someone there.

Michael D Not Higgins

Ok so we've got a rental up to the council's standards in a not rough urban area. Why can't you rent it privately?

handlemaster

Busterie wrote: »

It is anything but a rough area.
You really are groping for a reason to avoid the rats


with RAS you find the tenants. just say on the daft ad willing to accept RAS applicants. if no interest is cost or the property /location. Or perhaps potential tenants dont like the cut of your gib

foggy_lad

handlemaster wrote: »

Busterie wrote: »

It is anything but a rough area.
You really are groping for a reason to avoid the rats


with RAS you find the tenants. just say on the daft ad willing to accept RAS applicants. if no interest is cost or the property /location. Or perhaps potential tenants dont like the cut of your gib

You should contact the housing officer in your local council who deals with all RAS housing and inform tham that you have a property available for renting out and that it has been checked/certified as fully suitable for the RAS scheme.

Ask them to find suitable tenants for your peroperty and they should agree to that. it is then up to you when you get your tenants as the RAS scheme is exactly the same as a private lease, you must do all repairs etc and if the tenant stops paying their share of rent to the council it is up to you to take action of notice of arrears ,eviction notice etc, the council only sets up the deal and manages the payments, the tenant pays the council their share(Council rental rates) and the council pay you the agreed rate.

Where/What area is the property in?

Gumbo

Busterie wrote: »

Ridiculous, the house is fine condition.
I had to pay €300 for an engineer to say the house was in accordance with planning permission.
€170 for for an electrician to say the electrics are in order.
€150 for childproof windows, 15 minute extractor for bathroom etc etc.
My point is the talk of shortage of available houses is a media hype .

Has to be done for every house in the country, not just RAS and not just rental houses.

Busterie

Neither the tenants or council are interested whether I am Mr nice guy or not.
My point is, it is a major hassle to meet the councils standards, it is not the same in the private market,have you ever heard of a prospective private sector tenant asking if the house is accordance with Planning Permission.
This ban on "no RAS scheme" ads is an empty exercise in political correctness which will only benefit the free legal aid lawyers.

Mrs OBumble

kceire wrote: »

Has to be done for every house in the country, not just RAS and not just rental houses.

But the difference is that for RAS, the council will be checking the certification at each letting. Private rentals are required to be up to standard, but no one check if they are in most cases.

Busterie wrote: »

Neither the tenants or council are interested whether I am Mr nice guy or not.
My point is, it is a major hassle to meet the councils standards, it is not the same in the private market,have you ever heard of a prospective private sector tenant asking if the house is accordance with Planning Permission.
This ban on "no RAS scheme" ads is an empty exercise in political correctness which will only benefit the free legal aid lawyers.

The advertising ban is about discriminating the basis of Rent Allowance, not RAS.

Boater123

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The advertising ban is about discriminating the basis of Rent Allowance, not RAS.

From the Irish Human rights and Equality Commission:

"As of the 1st January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 has introduced
“housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. "

"It is now illegal to refuse prospective tenants solely on the basis that they are in
receipt of a rent supplement or other state supports."

Surely that includes RAS?

c montgomery

I have a house that is rented privately.
After last tenancy I called cork county council about renting it on the ras scheme. They took a message but no call back. This happened 4 times.
House re-rented privately.

I wanted to go on ras to rent it out for 10 years plus but it seems like the council's are the ones dragging their heels.

My house is in a great area and we'll maintained, I could have rented it 10 times privately.

I will apply for ras again once this tenancy is over but I won't accept lower than market rate.

Gumbo

c montgomery wrote: »

I have a house that is rented privately.
After last tenancy I called cork county council about renting it on the ras scheme. They took a message but no call back. This happened 4 times.
House re-rented privately.

I wanted to go on ras to rent it out for 10 years plus but it seems like the council's are the ones dragging their heels.

My house is in a great area and we'll maintained, I could have rented it 10 times privately.

I will apply for ras again once this tenancy is over but I won't accept lower than market rate.

10 years is the long term lease scheme. You probably rang the wrong section.

Up here in Dublin they are very quick to get the process going, I nearly went with it last year but opted out at the last minute.

c montgomery

kceire wrote: »

10 years is the long term lease scheme. You probably rang the wrong section.

Up here in Dublin they are very quick to get the process going, I nearly went with it last year but opted out at the last minute.

Yes your correct it was the long term lease scheme I contacted, it was over a year ago so getting my acronyms mixed up. I wanted to lease it long term.

At a time of housing shortage however you would imagine a long term lease for a rent allowance tenant would be like a golden ticket and that I would have got a call back.

My friend is on the scheme in Ongar in Dublin and the council there had him set up and house rented for 20 years in just under 6 weeks.

The_Conductor

Boater123 wrote: »

From the Irish Human rights and Equality Commission:

"As of the 1st January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 has introduced
“housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. "

"It is now illegal to refuse prospective tenants solely on the basis that they are in
receipt of a rent supplement or other state supports."

Surely that includes RAS?

RAS is a contractual arrangement between a private landlord and a local authority to provide private housing to the local authority, who then offer it to clients according to whatever criterion they decide (usually on a needs basis)- and pay the landlord a set amount- typically 10% below the open market rent for an area- on a monthly basis.

RAS has nothing whatsoever to do with rent supplement- however, this is commonly confused both by tenants, landlords- and indeed the media- they are wholly different manners of providing accommodation to those incapable of housing themselves.

Going on a rant here about the unfairness of it all- and how much it cost you to get the property up to standard and certified as such- isn't going to make you friends among tenants or landlords here.

If you gave us an idea of where the property is (e.g. Galway city)- just a broad idea- many of us here have reasonable backgrounds in the sector and would be in a position to give you an idea of the likely demand in any given area (and its not just rural locations that feature vacant properties that few people want to rent- contrary to what many people imagine).

Different people have different criteria for deciding where they would rather live- walking distance to a school is (for example) a red line issue that many prospective tenants might have- others might want access to fibre internet- or any of a bewildering array of other services or amenities. We simply don't know.

If you give us a better idea of the property- you just might get some helpful suggestions from the folk here which may help you find a tenant for the longer term- in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Boater123

The_Conductor wrote: »

RAS is a contractual arrangement between a private landlord and a local authority to provide private housing to the local authority, who then offer it to clients according to whatever criterion they decide (usually on a needs basis)- and pay the landlord a set amount- typically 10% below the open market rent for an area- on a monthly basis.

RAS has nothing whatsoever to do with rent supplement- however, this is commonly confused both by tenants, landlords- and indeed the media- they are wholly different manners of providing accommodation to those incapable of housing themselves.

Thanks for the clarification.

It has been a few years now, but I was once approached by a family who were RAS tenants. They were looking for me to rent them a house through the RAS scheme.

After looking in to the scheme, I declined because of it's limitations.

I was worried when I read the new discrimination legislation was to cover all persons receiving housing assistance.

A bit pedantic I know.

Should be covered though as I have a few tenants in different properties in receipt of RA, and would never discriminate solely on whether the tenant is in receipt of assistance.

Busterie

What do you mean by "us" in "gave us an idea about property"

The_Conductor wrote: »

RAS is a contractual arrangement between a private landlord and a local authority to provide private housing to the local authority, who then offer it to clients according to whatever criterion they decide (usually on a needs basis)- and pay the landlord a set amount- typically 10% below the open market rent for an area- on a monthly basis.

RAS has nothing whatsoever to do with rent supplement- however, this is commonly confused both by tenants, landlords- and indeed the media- they are wholly different manners of providing accommodation to those incapable of housing themselves.

Going on a rant here about the unfairness of it all- and how much it cost you to get the property up to standard and certified as such- isn't going to make you friends among tenants or landlords here.

If you gave us an idea of where the property is (e.g. Galway city)- just a broad idea- many of us here have reasonable backgrounds in the sector and would be in a position to give you an idea of the likely demand in any given area (and its not just rural locations that feature vacant properties that few people want to rent- contrary to what many people imagine).

Different people have different criteria for deciding where they would rather live- walking distance to a school is (for example) a red line issue that many prospective tenants might have- others might want access to fibre internet- or any of a bewildering array of other services or amenities. We simply don't know.

If you give us a better idea of the property- you just might get some helpful suggestions from the folk here which may help you find a tenant for the longer term- in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The_Conductor

Busterie wrote: »

What do you mean by "us" in "gave us an idea about property"

'Us'?
There are people involved in all aspects of the property sector here- renters, landlords, buyers, sellers- and we also have a few PRTB employees, at least one PRTB adjudicator who visits this forum regularly, numerous civil servants on the policy side, one prominent mortgage advisor, 1 nationally known economist, we (as in boards.ie) are owned by the same group who own Daft.ie etc etc (I could go on and on)..........

There are a plethora of differing experiences that numerous people who visit this forum can share with one another- we cater to all comers.