Rent Allowance

tommyhayes1989

First off I want to apologize that because of my own ignorance I am unfamiliar with the rules & regulations regarding rent allowance. Please read my story and if you have any advise or tips I would greatly appreciate it.

My partner (22) and I (26) and her child (6) have been "renting" a property from a friend of her family for 18 months. I say "renting" as it is a casual affair and there is nothing official. The rent is extremely reasonable at the moment but I am only a trainee accountant and my mrs does not work. My partner has applied for a medical card for her child as we had to go through hoops to qualify for because of my income, which again is nothing to sing home about. Our landlady, through no fault of her own, has decided that she would obviously get a substantially better rent on the open market. She has however suggested that we attempt to get rent allowance, whereby the majority of our rent is paid for by the state, and we pay a contribution. Now as far as I can see the rules for the rent allowance scheme seem fairly sketchy and I'm struggling to follow them. I was hoping that someone could explain them to me in plain English.

Just some quick points:
This is a last resort, as I have always been against claiming anything from the state.
We are expecting a child in the next 8 weeks.
I am going to my local citizens information in the next day or two so I don't want to stroll in not knowing anything.

Thank you all for reading

davo10

tommyhayes1989 wrote: »

First off I want to apologize that because of my own ignorance I am unfamiliar with the rules & regulations regarding rent allowance. Please read my story and if you have any advise or tips I would greatly appreciate it.

My partner (22) and I (26) and her child (6) have been "renting" a property from a friend of her family for 18 months. I say "renting" as it is a casual affair and there is nothing official. The rent is extremely reasonable at the moment but I am only a trainee accountant and my mrs does not work. My partner has applied for a medical card for her child as we had to go through hoops to qualify for because of my income, which again is nothing to sing home about. Our landlady, through no fault of her own, has decided that she would obviously get a substantially better rent on the open market. She has however suggested that we attempt to get rent allowance, whereby the majority of our rent is paid for by the state, and we pay a contribution. Now as far as I can see the rules for the rent allowance scheme seem fairly sketchy and I'm struggling to follow them. I was hoping that someone could explain them to me in plain English.

Just some quick points:
This is a last resort, as I have always been against claiming anything from the state.
We are expecting a child in the next 8 weeks.
I am going to my local citizens information in the next day or two so I don't want to stroll in not knowing anything.

Thank you all for reading

Regardless of whether you are successful in getting RA, you need to familiarise yourself with tenancy rights and obligations. If you are renting for 18 months you have Part 4 tenancy rights, that is good news for you and your family, also the fact that your landlord is so accommodating and your tent is low is a huge advantage.

But, your landlord has now realised that you are paying below market rate and wants a rental increase. She is entitled to raise your rent to the market rate after 2 years (in 6 months time) with appropriate notice (90 days) and it is not her concern how you raise the money. If you are unable to afford the market rate, then she can evict you. Unfortunately it will be very difficult for you to find a landlord willing to rent to you if you are in receipt of rent allowance.

Put simply, time is if the essence, if she asks an EA to get examples of rental rates in the area, you need to be able to pay that amount so get your application for RA in as soon as possible, the letter of increase is likely to arrive in a couple of months as the 2 year mark approaches.

Stheno

If you are working full time OP, then your family will not qualify for rent assistance afaik

El_Dangeroso

Might be worth looking into family income supplement?

MrMorooka

tommyhayes1989 wrote: »

rent allowance, whereby the majority of our rent is paid for by the state, and we pay a contribution.

I'm pretty sure that's wrong. Rent allowance must be the entire rent, you are not allowed to top it up with your own contribution. But as others have said, you won't get it because you are in full time employment, so it's a moot point. The way most welfare works in this country is that if you work, you lose it all and it's expected that your wages will cover your needs.

Gatling

MrMorooka wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that's wrong. Rent allowance must be the entire rent, you are not allowed to top it up with your own contribution.

No there is maximum limits depending on country and family size With a minimum weekly contribution from the tenants .

So for example the maximum rent supplement is 800pm .
you don't get 800pm .
you get 800 minus your weekly minimum of €30 per week per couple .

So
€800 -€120
= €680 is your rent supplement you get

MrMorooka

Ah, presumably what is wrong then(based on your example) is renting a place with a rent of €900 a month, and paying the extra €100 out of your own funds as well as the contribution?

tommyhayes1989

Yes I think I may do that

Gatling

MrMorooka wrote: »

Ah, presumably what is wrong then(based on your example) is renting a place with a rent of €900 a month, and paying the extra €100 out of your own funds as well as the contribution?

Yeah but your not supposed to top up your rent ,
The op would also need lease and a registered ptrb tenancy too ,
Privately renting 6 months and been assessed as having housing need and put on the housing list

rawn

Gatling wrote: »

Yeah but your not supposed to top up your rent ,

This is true but the SW seem to be allowing it quietly due to the housing crisis. This of course depends on where the OP lives and if there is actually cheaper accommodation available.

athtrasna

MrMorooka wrote: »

Ah, presumably what is wrong then(based on your example) is renting a place with a rent of €900 a month, and paying the extra €100 out of your own funds as well as the contribution?

Quite simply that is illegal apart from people on Hap.