The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 90,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €436 million for 2012.
The emphasis of the rent limit review was to ensure that maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer was achieved whilst at the same time ensuring that people on rent supplement are not priced out of the market. Analysis shows that for County Kildare, there are properties available within the maximum rent limits for rent supplement recipients. The number of rental properties available in North Kildare is somewhat lower than the numbers available in the rest of the county and therefore impacts on the number of accommodation units available for rent supplement. It must be stressed, however, that the purpose of the rent limit review was to ensure availability of accommodation for rent supplement tenancies and not to provide rent supplement tenants with access to all housing in all areas.
Latest figures show that there are currently 4,329 rent supplement recipients in County Kildare. When compared with Census 2011 household data this shows that 36% of properties rented from private landlords are in receipt of rent supplement in County Kildare. Figures also show that there are over 900 rent supplement recipients in the Leixlip, Maynooth and Celbridge areas in North Kildare, indicating that it is possible to secure accommodation in these locations within the rent limits. The Department will continue to monitor rent levels throughout the country but at this point I have no plans to revise the existing rent limits.
