Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 March 2013
136. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 117 of 5 March 2013, if she will confirm exactly the way north Kildare is defined; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14463/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra144. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will describe the way, with regard to the setting of rent limits for rent assistance, the objective of providing assistance to all of the persons with a genuine need whilst avoiding a distortion in local rental rates is achieved; the precise mathematical method used by officials in her Department when calculating the appropriate rent limits for a given area, including all the factors that are taken into consideration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14604/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 144 together.
The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 87,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €403 million for 2013.
The Department funds a significant proportion of private sector rented accommodation. Accordingly, it is essential that State support for rents are kept under review, reflect current market conditions and do not distort the market in any way. The purpose of the rent limit review was to ensure availability of accommodation for rent supplement tenancies and not to provide rent supplement tenants with access to all housing in all areas.
The maximum rent limits came into force on 1 January 2012 and are in place until June 2013. These limits were set after an analysis of the most up to date market data available. For all counties, major urban population centres were tested as part of the rents review to ensure that rent supplement applicants can access temporary housing arrangements whilst seeking employment opportunities. The emphasis of the rent limit review was to ensure that maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer was achieved whilst at the same time ensuring that people on rent supplement are not priced out of the market. Approximately 56,600 rent supplement claims have been awarded since January 2012, showing that accommodation can be secured within the new limits.
The focus of the review was primarily based on ensuring an adequate level of housing stock is available, using the 40th percentile as the basis for establishing rent limits. The Department used publicly available data sources to ascertain both the market trends and the current asking prices for one, two and three bedroom properties nationally. The following data sources were used:
1. Daft.ie Rental Market Reports;
2. Leading websites advertising properties for rent;
3. CSO Rental Indices;
4. Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) Databases
A snapshot of the PRTB’s database which stores all annual rental values and relevant addresses.
In County Kildare property availability at 40% of the market was examined for areas containing the main population centres (Celbridge, Kilcock, Naas, Newbridge, Clane, Kilcullen, Kildare, Maynooth, Monasterevin, Sallins and Straffan) and also for the whole county.
When answering PQ no 117 of 5 March 2013, the number of rent supplement recipients in the main North Kildare population centres of Celbridge, Kilcock, Leixlip and Maynooth was used. In County Kildare, there are over 4,300 recipients of rent supplement, of which over 1,000 are in these areas.
The full report of the review of maximum rent limits is available on the Department’s website at the following link: http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Policy/ResearchSurveysAndStatistics/Pages/rentreview2011.aspx
Officials in the Department continue to examine the impact of the rent limits on those who claim rent supplement and continue to ensure that accommodation needs for recipients can be met. The next review of rent limits will take place before June 2013 and any changes to the existing limits.
