COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 14, 2014

QUESTION NO. 3

QUESTION: Councillor M. Devine

To ask the Manager for an update on the Housing Assisted Payments and its proposed implementation for this County?

REPLY:

In March 2012, the Government approved in principle a joint proposal by the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Social Protection, to transfer responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with an established long-term housing need from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to local (housing) authorities. The new service will be provided using a new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). Rent supplement will remain a short-term income support, as originally intended. The approval was subject to a number of conditions including the completion of an economic assessment, outline heads of a bill in respect of underpinning legislation and additional detail on the scheme itself. These additional elements were presented to Government at the meeting of 18 July 2013 and the introduction of HAP was approved.

This represents a fundamental change in social housing support and HAP is a proposed   new assistance scheme for Rent Supplement recipients with an established housing need. Rent Supplement was designed as a short term income support and its use as a long term housing support has led to some difficulties with in the housing market. The new HAP is being designed to bring all long term social housing service provided by the State together under the local authority system providing for integrated social housing under one sector.

Rent Supplement will continue to be paid to households who are already in the private rented sector but who, generally because of a loss of income through unemployment, require short term income support to pay their rent. Rent Supplement will therefore revert to its original purpose as a short term income support.

With regard to timelines for implementation of the scheme itself, an administrative pilot of the Scheme is being carried out in Limerick (Q1 2014). Following the commencement of relevant legislation, the HAP testing phase in the other 6 test authorities including South Dublin County Council will be initiated in Q3/Q4 2014, with full roll-out of HAP in 2015, taking account of the on-going work in respect of introducing the new differential rent schemes and subject to appropriate systems and resources being in place.