Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
253. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his attention has been drawn to a significant delay in HAP and HHAP payments being made to landlords from local authorities; if he is aware that tenants in these cases have not received information from HAP services regarding their own rent contributions; the reason for the delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43407/23]
View answerThe administration of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is a matter for the relevant local authority and HAP application processing times within local authorities may vary. Once a HAP application has been received and confirmed as valid by the relevant local authority, it is entered on the system by the local authority and then submitted for processing and payment by the HAP Shared Service Centre (HAP SSC). If there are delays at the processing stage within a local authority, payment to the landlord will be backdated to the date on which a complete and valid application form was received by the local authority. The landlord is therefore not penalised for any delay.
The HAP application form comes in two parts, Section A to be completed by the applicant tenant and Section B to be completed by the landlord or agent. An application for HAP will only be accepted by the local authority when both Section A and Section B are completed, signed and returned, along with the required supporting documentation. Any delay in tenants and landlords supplying this information will impact on the processing time of the HAP application.
Limerick City and County Council provide a highly effective HAP transactional shared service on behalf of all local authorities. The HAP SSC manages all HAP related rental transactions for the tenant, local authority and landlord. Once a HAP application has been received and confirmed as valid by the relevant local authority, it is then processed by the HAP SSC. Any rental payment arising for a given month will then be made to a landlord on the last Wednesday of that month.
My Department and the local authorities are aware of the importance of minimising HAP processing times and the critical need to keep this under review at a local level.
