Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 June 2023
215. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reasons that a reduction in a HAP payment is now considered in line with a reduction in a working family payment (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28892/23]
View answerThe Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. Eligible households can source their own accommodation in the private rental sector which should be within the HAP rent limits provided to them by the local authority.
All households in receipt of HAP pay a differential rent based on the rent scheme set by the relevant local authority. The right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is set out in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of such schemes is an executive function and is subject to broad principles laid down by my Department including that; the rent payable should be related to income and a smaller proportion of income should be required from low income households; and that provision should be included for the acceptance of a lower rent than that required under the terms of the scheme in exceptional cases where payment of the normal rent would give rise to hardship.
Local discretion and flexibility are inherent in the devolved function of administering rent schemes. Decisions regarding the increase or decrease in the rent charged to tenants of local authorities are matters for individual local authorities in accordance with its differential rent scheme.
Since 11 July 2022 each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit or up to 50% in the case of homeless households in the Dublin region. It should be noted that it is a matter for the local authority to determine if the application of the discretion is warranted on a case by case basis and also the level of additional discretion applied in each case.
My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review and closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into account other sources of data, including Residential Tenancies Board rent data published on a quarterly basis.
In relation to the case raised, the day-to-day operation of the HAP scheme is a matter for the relevant local authority.
