Other types of housing support
In addition to social housing tenancies, there are other housing supports available. These supports can help you pay rent. They include:
- Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)
- Rent Supplement
- Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS)
This section contains more detail on each of these supports.
What is the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme?
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support that local authorities offer to people who have a long-term housing need.
For most households to qualify for HAP, the local authority must accept them onto the social housing waiting list in the normal manner.
However, sometimes a person may meet all the criteria for social housing but the local authority is unsure if they have ‘alternative accommodation’. For example, if a person has a stake in a property occupied by their ex-spouse but they have not yet gone through a formal divorce or separation to decide who will get the house long-term. In these circumstances, a person may qualify for ‘HAP only’ but not for social housing.
To access HAP, the tenant must find their own private rental accommodation and secure an offer of a tenancy from a private landlord. Generally, the rent being charged for the accommodation must be within prescribed HAP limits for the household type in that area. The standard HAP rent limits are published online here.
If you secure an offer of a tenancy that is within the HAP rental limits, the next step is that the tenant asks the local authority to approve the HAP payment for that tenancy. Once the local authority approves the HAP payment, the local authority will make the monthly HAP payment directly to the landlord.
The HAP tenant must pay a weekly rent contribution to the local authority. The local authority calculates this based on your income and ability to pay.
If you cannot find anywhere to rent within the standard HAP limits, there are some options open to you, including the following:
- You are allowed to pay a ‘top-up’ amount to the landlord if the rent is more than the standard HAP limits. If you decide you wish to pay a ‘top-up’ amount to the landlord, you must still also pay your weekly rent contribution to the local authority. The Government suggests that where HAP tenants are paying top-up amounts, the total amount which the tenant is paying between the top-up and the weekly rent contribution should be no more than 35% of your household’s monthly income (where members of the household are in employment) or, no more than 30% of your monthly income (where the household relies on social welfare).
- If you still cannot find anywhere to rent with HAP, even if you were to pay a ‘top-up’ amount, the local authority may agree to increase your HAP payment by up to 35% above the standard HAP rent limit. They may do this if the household cannot secure accommodation even by paying a ‘top-up’ amount to the landlord. If the only way the household can secure suitable accommodation is by availing of an increased HAP amount, the local authority may decide to increase the HAP payment.
If you are receiving HAP, you can ask to remain on the local authority waiting list so they can allocate you social housing in the future.
Under the HAP scheme you can increase your income above the threshold to access social housing and keep your HAP payment.
Detailed information about HAP is available on www.hap.ie, including:
Landlords are not allowed to reject applications from tenants because they receive certain payments, including HAP. This would be unlawful discrimination. Property to rent cannot be advertised saying the landlord does not accept HAP tenants.
It is important to note that when you receive HAP you still have a normal landlord-tenant relationship with the person you rent the property from. The local authority is not your landlord and has no role in tenancy-related matters. You have the same rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 as any other private tenant. Useful resources for private tenants include:
You can get more information including the HAP rent limits in each local authority area here.
What is the Homeless HAP Scheme?
The Homeless HAP Scheme is for people who are homeless and need HAP to secure housing. Homeless HAP operates differently in Dublin than it does in other local authority areas.
Homeless HAP in Dublin
Local authorities in Dublin may increase a homeless household’s rate of HAP by up to 50% above the maximum rent limit. They can also help with paying deposits and rental payments before they are due. Homeless households in Dublin can also use a service called the Place Finder Service to find a tenancy using HAP. This is a service that helps homeless households find a tenancy using HAP. See more information here.
Homeless HAP outside of Dublin
Local authorities outside of Dublin can also help homeless households with paying deposits and rental payments in advance. They can increase a household’s rate of HAP by up to 35% above the maximum rent limit. Some local authorities outside Dublin also run a Homeless HAP Scheme or the ‘Place Finder’ Service. The Homeless HAP Scheme helps people who are at the risk of homelessness by giving them extra supports, including deposits and upfront rent payments to help homeless households find a suitable Homeless HAP tenancy. You may apply to your local authority for these extra supports, and can find more about the Homeless HAP scheme here.
What is Rent Supplement?
Rent Supplement was previously introduced to help people living in private rental accommodation who became unable to pay their rent. Rent Supplement is dealt with by the Department of Social Protection, not local authorities. It is now meant to be a short term support.. It is being phased out for people with a long-term housing need.
If you have a long-term housing need you should instead submit a social housing supports application to your local authority and seek to access the housing list / HAP.
People who are already receiving Rent Supplement can generally continue to get it as long as they remain eligible, or you may be moved onto the HAP Scheme..
However, anyone who applies for it from now on may only get it if they are not eligible to be placed on their local authorities social housing list and if you meet other criteria. For more information on the criteria see Rent Supplement (citizensinformation.ie). .
What is the Rental Accommodation scheme (RAS)?
The Rental Accommodation Scheme is an older local authority scheme that was designed for people receiving Rent Supplement but who had a long-term housing need. In general, you must be getting Rent Supplement for more than 18 months to be considered for RAS.
Your local authority will negotiate the tenancy with the landlord and you pay rent to the local authority. The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 governs the relationship between the landlord and the tenant. For more information on your rights and obligations as a private residential tenant see:
RAS is being phased out by the Government and will eventually be replaced by HAP.
RAS and HAP sound similar, what is the difference?
Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, the tenant must find suitable private rental accommodation themselves. However, under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) the local authority sources the accommodation. An individual must be receiving Rent Supplement for more than 18 months to be considered for RAS but this is not required for HAP.
If you have been a RAS tenant since before April 2011, when your tenancy ends the local authority should find you alternative housing. This is not the case for newer RAS tenancies or for HAP tenancies. RAS is being phased out and will eventually be replaced by HAP.
I am falling behind with my rent payments – what should I do?
Falling behind with rent payments (link) is a common occurrence that local authorities are used to dealing with. If you fall behind on rent payments this is called ‘being in arrears’. If you are falling behind with local authority rent or your HAP contribution, you should explain your financial situation to your local authority as soon as possible.
If you are in an Approved Housing Body (AHB) tenancy, you should also speak to the AHB. The local authority or AHB will work with you as best they can to help sort the problem out. They will help you to arrange a payment plan to pay a little bit of rent arrears each week.
If you let the arrears build up, this will lead to far greater difficulties in the future than if you co-operate with the local authority at the beginning.
Different procedures apply depending on whether you are a:
- local authority tenant
- AHB tenant
- HAP tenant.
However, in all cases you can be evicted because of arrears.
It is very important that you get help to prevent or deal with arrears at the earliest opportunity. If you leave a local authority tenancy with unpaid arrears this can also affect your ability to access the social housing list in the future. The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (www.mabs.ie) can help you to prevent arrears or work out a repayment plan for any arrears you have already built up (accumulated).
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, it is provided for general legal information only. It is not a substitute for legal advice. MLRC does not accept any legal liability for the contents of these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). People with specific legal problems should consult a solicitor.
