Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021
567. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the social housing supports that are in place for a person who had to leave the family home due to domestic violence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30621/21]
View answerResponsibility for the development and provision of services to support victims of domestic violence rests with my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and I understand that the delivery of these services is managed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
A protocol to assist victims of domestic violence has been established between the Department of Social Protection and Tusla on a pilot basis. Under this protocol, a victim of domestic violence can apply for Rent Supplement on referral by Tusla or by Tusla-funded service providers. The pilot scheme has been extended until the end of this year and more information is available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/5704d-access-to-rent-supplement-for-victims-of-domestic-violence/ .
In terms of social housing, in 2017, my Department issued policy and procedural guidance to local authorities relating to the role they can play to assist victims of domestic violence. The guidance is also a useful reference for service providers working in the sector, highlighting where they can be of greatest assistance to their clients, covering a range of scenarios that may arise for victims of domestic violence currently in receipt of social housing support and those seeking social housing supports. These include provisions whereby a household may transfer out of their existing tenancy and into a new tenancy agreement with the local authority or they may access an independent tenancy in the private rented sector utilising the various housing supports offered by the State.
Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.
To qualify for social housing support a household must meet all of the eligibility criteria, which primarily relate to income, availability of alternative accommodation and previous rent arrears.
The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy. The Policy sets out what income should be assessed as part of net income, what deductions can be made and what income is not assessable for the purpose of a social housing assessment. The Policy also provides for a range of income disregards, and local authorities have discretion to decide to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once-off in nature.
Where a household is deemed to meet the eligibility criteria, only then is its housing need assessed under the criteria in Regulation 23 of the 2011 Regulations, having regard to its current accommodation.
If a household meets the eligibility and need criteria, it qualifies for the suite of social housing supports, including HAP, and is placed on the housing list to be considered for the allocation of suitable tenancies in accordance with the authority’s allocation scheme.
Under section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and Regulation 22(1) of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, a household is ineligible for social housing support if a member owns alternative accommodation, to the household’s current accommodation, that is suitable for the household to live in. Regulation 22(2) of the 2011 Regulations provides that this ineligibility does not apply where an applicant for social housing support owns accommodation that is occupied by his or her spouse, from whom he or she is formally separated or divorced. Under the enactment, a deed of separation is sufficient to set aside this ineligibility ground and it is not necessary to await judicial separation or divorce to get a decision on social housing support in these cases. The rationale for this exception is that the terms of a formal separation or divorce will provide for the future ownership and occupation of the family home and it will be clear whether the household that has left the family home can return to live there.
In order to provide more flexibility to housing authorities to deal with cases where the ownership of the family home had not yet been finalised, the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 amended section 20 of the 2009 Act. Housing authorities may now provide such households with social housing support under the Rental Accommodation Scheme or the Housing Assistance Payment scheme until ownership of the family home is resolved in a formal separation or divorce settlement.
The 2014 Act amendment provides that support in these circumstances will be reviewed by the housing authority at prescribed intervals and the household will not be able to transfer to other forms of social housing support while ownership of the family home remains to be determined. However, where the household ultimately qualifies for the full range of social housing supports, the length of time the household was supported under RAS or HAP will be reckonable for the purposes of determining the household’s relative priority for a transfer to local authority social housing.
Decisions on the qualification of specific persons for social housing support and the allocation of that support are a matter solely for the local authority concerned. Each application must be considered on its own merits and the individual circumstances taken into account.
