COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 14, 2020

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor M. Duff

Could the Chief Executive to give a report clarifying the procedures that potential tenants of Approved Housing Bodies have to follow to secure Rent Allowance and the procedure for existing tenants of AHBs that require an increased Rent Allowance if their income circumstances change, due to conflicting information and advice, given to tenants and potential tenants from the DEASP and SDCC Housing officers.

REPLY:

The level of rent set for an Approved Housing Body (AHB) tenancy, and therefore the nature of potential supports in that regard, is generally determined by how the individual property was funded.  In effect this means that where a specific property has been funded by a private funding mechanism (and not public funding), the tenancy of that property may be considered for Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) support and all necessary details will be provided by the relevant AHB to support the application for HAP to the Council.  Any queries from applicants in relation to HAP applications are dealt with by the Council's HAP team.

Where public funding has been used to provide a specific property, the tenant(s) of such a property may be eligible for rent supplement.  However, rent supplement applications and the processes for approval for same are managed by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and accordingly all enquiries should be directed to that Department.