Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
847. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated full year cost of increasing HAP limits to the average cost of rents in each area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41925/22]
View answerThe Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme plays a vital role in housing eligible families and individuals. At the end of Q1 2022, over 102,500 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were nearly 61,500 households actively in receipt of HAP support.
Budget 2022 increased the Exchequer funding for the HAP scheme to €585 million. This will allow for the continued support of existing HAP households and also enable a projected additional 14,000 households to be supported by HAP in 2022. The outturn for HAP in 2021 was €541.7m
Projections for 2023 will be agreed as part of the normal Estimates process.
The Programme for Government commits to ensuring that HAP levels are adequate to support vulnerable households, while the supply of social housing increases.
Under Housing for All, my Department was tasked with undertaking an analytical exercise to examine whether an increase in the level of discretion available to Local Authorities under HAP is required. The Housing Agency undertook to carry out this analytical exercise on behalf of the Department to better understand what level of discretion should be made available to Local Authorities under HAP to maintain adequate levels of support.
Following receipt and analysis of this review, I, in cooperation with Government colleagues and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, have now approved an increase in the HAP discretion rate from 20% to 35% and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single person households. This will secure more tenancies and prevent new entries to homelessness. Both these measures came into effect from 11 July 2022.
Each local authority now has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit to secure appropriate accommodation for a household that requires it, or up to 50% in the case of homeless households in the Dublin region.
I am committed to decreasing our reliance on the HAP scheme and we will only do that through significantly scaling up our social housing supply. ‘Housing for all’ sets us on a pathway to delivering 90,000 social homes between now and the end of 2030 including 9,000 this year.
