The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. Rent supplement is not payable in respect of the family home.
Under the rules governing entitlement to rent supplement, the Department must establish that the applicant is a bona fide tenant. In determining whether the applicant is a bona fide tenant the Department will generally require documentary evidence including:
details of the lease agreement,
proof of ownership of the property,
documentation that the tenancy has been registered with the PRTB, where necessary.
In addition, there a number of other qualifying conditions for the scheme including at the time of the application, the claimant must:
have been residing in private rented accommodation (where at the commencement of the tenancy the person could have reasonably afforded the rent and has experienced a substantial change in his or her circumstances where they are now unable to pay the rent) or accommodation for homeless persons or in an institution (or any combination of these) for a period of 183 days within the preceding 12 months of the date of claim for rent supplement,
or
have had an assessment of housing need carried out within the 12 months preceding the date of claim and have been deemed by the relevant local authority to be eligible for and in need of social housing support.
Overall, I am satisfied that the conditions of the scheme are sufficient to ensure that only those who are in need of rent supplement can access the scheme.