The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme plays a vital role in housing eligible families and individuals. At the end of Q2 2021, 94,500 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were more than 62,000 households actively in receipt of HAP support and over 33,000 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to households supported by the scheme.
A landlord or an agent acting on behalf of a landlord is not legally obliged to enter into a tenancy agreement specifically with a HAP recipient. However, on 1 January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 introduced “housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. This means that discrimination in the provision of accommodation or related service and amenities against people in receipt of rent supplement, HAP or other social welfare payments is prohibited. Further information is available at www.ihrec.ie/your-rights/housing/housing-assistance-payment/.
If a person feels that they have been discriminated against by a landlord or their agent, they can make a complaint under the Equal Status Acts to the Workplace Relations Commission; further information is available on the Commission's website, www.workplacerelations.ie/en/.
Threshold, the housing charity, provides a comprehensive advice and advocacy service to families and individuals who are renting their homes. Further information is available at www.threshold.ie/advice/seeking-private-rented-accommodation/can-a-landlord-refuse-to-rent-to-me/.
The HAP scheme continues to be an effective and secure forms of social housing support and remains a part of the suite of social housing options currently available across the country.
