Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
656. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the full-year cost of bringing HAP rates in line with average rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36958/23]
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. At the end of Q1 2023, over 110,800 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were nearly 58,773 households actively in receipt of HAP support.
The 2023 budget allocation of €543 million will enable continued support for existing tenancies along with funding for 8,800 new households to be accommodated in HAP supported tenancies. My Department does not hold data in a format that would allow for an estimate of the cost requested.
Projections for 2024 will be agreed as part of the normal Estimates process.
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 my Department to better understand what level of discretion should be made available to local authorities under HAP to maintain adequate levels of support.
Since 11 July 2022 the HAP discretion rate was increased from 20% to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single persons households. 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.
A separate review of the discretion available to Homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, which is up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits, is currently being undertaken by my Department, in conjunction with The Housing Agency.
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.
I am committed to decreasing our reliance on the HAP scheme and central to that is significantly scaling up our social housing supply. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of new homes to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. As new build supply of social and affordable housing ramps up, there will be reducing reliance on the HAP scheme.
