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Local Authority Housing

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 October 2020

Thursday, 1 October 2020

Questions (153, 154)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

153. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the making of a differential rents scheme will be moved from an executive function to a reserved function of local authority members, as proposed in Putting People First, to give members more say in local democracy; the reason for the delay; his plans to prepare a national differential rent scheme; when the proposals will be put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27772/20]

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Mattie McGrath

Question:

154. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a directive will be issued to local authorities in respect of exempting carer's allowance and the working family payment from consideration when calculating rent in view of the fact that both payments are targeted as supports for low-income households; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27773/20]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 153 and 154 together.

The right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is laid down in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of such schemes under section 58 is an executive function and is subject to broad principles set out by my Department, including that rent levels should be based on income and reflect tenants’ ability to pay.

Decisions regarding the sources of income which are included and disregarded for rent assessment purposes are a matter for individual local authorities. Different approaches are taken to rent charging and setting across the country. Schemes define assessable income on which the rent is calculated and detail a list of sources of income (including social welfare payments) considered assessable and payments that are excluded.

The Programme for Government commits to bringing forward a package of social housing reforms, which includes standardising the differential rents regime across the country to ensure fairness. Standardisation would include the treatment of income disregards. Work on the review of the current rent schemes has been ongoing and I have asked my Department to prepare recommendations regarding the potential for a standardised local authority rents system, which I will consider in due course as part of the package of social housing reforms. The respective roles of the executive and elected members will be considered as part of this process.

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