Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 February 2024
29. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the work his Department has carried out to promote the new guidelines in relation to student digs accommodation. [9110/24]
View answerIn line with Housing for All objectives to increase protections in private rental accommodation, my Department developed a Voluntary Regulatory Framework together with a sample license agreement to assist both homeowners and students who wish to participate in the Rent a Room scheme. The guidance aimed to highlight to homeowners and students the key issues to consider when entering into a Rent a Room license agreement. This guidance and licence agreement has been circulated to all Higher Education Institutions and is available at www.gov.ie/en/service/b1d3f-find-and-advertise-student-accommodation-and-digs/.
The guidance was published in advance of the 2023 academic year and followed a promotional media campaign which raised awareness of the scheme. This scheme was supplemented by localised campaigns from the higher education sector.
An individual can rent a room/rooms in their home, retain their social welfare entitlements where applicable, and earn up to €14,000 in rental income before having to pay tax. The Government also approved an extension of the rent-a-room relief scheme to disregard income earned when determining medical card eligibility and when examining reckonable income for support under the SUSI grant scheme. In addition, the scheme has been extended to allow local authority tenants to participate from the 1st December 2023. This will be on an administrative basis initially, targeting the provision of additional rooms for third level students.
My Government colleagues and I will continue our work to increase awareness and availability of the scheme which is an important provider of flexible and affordable accommodation for students and the wider renter market.
