Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 29,000 recipients for which the Government has provided €180 million for in 2018.
End of year statistics for rent supplement recipients and expenditure for the years 2016 to 2017 and for the six months ending June 2018 are set out in the tabular statement.
The strategic initiative of returning rent supplement to its original purpose, that of a short-term income support, facilitated by the introduction of the HAP scheme has been the main driver in rent supplement’s base decline. There are currently over 38,000 HAP tenancies in place of which c 9,900 (c.26%) are transfers from rent supplement.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Tabular Statement:
Rent Supplement: Recipient Numbers & Expenditure 2016 to June 2018
Year
|
Total Expenditure €000
|
Total Recipients
|
2016
|
275,294
|
48,041
|
2017
|
231,221 (1)
|
34,378
|
6 Months to June 2018
|
94,442
|
28,978
|
(1) Provisional Outturn