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Rent Allowance to be reduced by govt? How soon and by how much?

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  • 18-05-2011 11:57pm
    #1
    worded
    Registered Users Posts: 4,533 ✭✭✭


    Is there a change on the cards?


Comments

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    #2
    charlemont
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,725 ✭✭✭charlemont


    Link ?


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    #3
    washman3
    Registered Users Posts: 3,646 ✭✭✭washman3


    would think its only a matter of time, but not much point reducing allowances if its only the tenant who takes the pain, landlord fees would have to be looked at,possibly capped.!! a formula would have to be worked out for this. rents are still completely over the top here,not in comparison to other countries,but in comparison to the crisis. high rents are actually the only thing propping up the housing market now.(or rather whats left of it)


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    #4
    worded
    Registered Users Posts: 4,533 ✭✭✭worded


    washman3 wrote: »
    would think its only a matter of time, but not much point reducing allowances if its only the tenant who takes the pain, landlord fees would have to be looked at,possibly capped.!! a formula would have to be worked out for this. rents are still completely over the top here,not in comparison to other countries,but in comparison to the crisis. high rents are actually the only thing propping up the housing market now.(or rather whats left of it)


    Im private rented. I dont want the unemployed to suffer but I think rent allowance is putting an artificial floor in the market.
    I would really like the govt to stop paying landlords so much rent allowance.
    Most landlords are not going to turf people out if the govt is paying a % less, LL will take the hit. This in turn wil reduce the private rents.

    Do you think rents are reasonable compared to other countries?


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    #5
    stargazer 68
    Registered Users Posts: 5,075 ✭✭✭stargazer 68


    A lot of rent allowance is paid directly to the tenant and not the landlord. Tenant then has to make up any difference so reducing the rent allowance only hits the tenants in those cases.


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    #6
    worded
    Registered Users Posts: 4,533 ✭✭✭worded


    Dovies wrote: »
    A lot of rent allowance is paid directly to the tenant and not the landlord. Tenant then has to make up any difference so reducing the rent allowance only hits the tenants in those cases.

    I didnt know that. Maybe things need to change. No easy answer so.

    I just heard a whisper on the news or somewhere weeks back that the govt was going to pay less on RA.


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    #7
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Dovies wrote: »
    A lot of rent allowance is paid directly to the tenant and not the landlord. Tenant then has to make up any difference so reducing the rent allowance only hits the tenants in those cases.

    That's true, about the allowance going straight to the tenant, but it doesn't work quite the way you think it does. There are rent allowance limits set for each locality & you cannot rent somewhere that costs more than this limit & receive rent allowance. You do have to pay something towards your rent yourself (a min of €24 per week) but your total rent cannot be above the limit set for your area. So if you rented somewhere at €400 a month and rent allowance came down to €350 you would either have to move out or get your rent dropped (or commit fraud and get the landlord to declare you're paying less than you are but obviously that's not a smart thing to do for either of you)


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    #8
    sealgaire
    Registered Users Posts: 732 ✭✭✭sealgaire


    Oh it needs to be cut big time! It's the only reason why ripoff rents are still being looked for.


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    #9
    snubbleste
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 31,117 ✭✭✭✭snubbleste


    OP you should read the Fine Gael manifesto published prior to the election, then write to the relevant minister concerned and ask them about it. Let us know what the response is.


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    #10
    Lugh Ildanach
    Registered Users Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Lugh Ildanach


    Dovies wrote: »
    A lot of rent allowance is paid directly to the tenant and not the landlord. Tenant then has to make up any difference so reducing the rent allowance only hits the tenants in those cases.

    This is not the case. If the rent is above the rent limits, NO rent supplement is payable and the tenant is required to either get the landlord to reduce the rent or find alternative accommodation. The tenant is not permitted to make up the difference. Of course it does happen in practice with landlords and tenants simply lying about the real level of rent on their application forms, which is of course illegal.

    It is ridiculous to suggest that welfare payments should be the mechanism to control rent prices. If the government want to tackle excessively high rents, there are mechanisms in place (ie through the PRTB) or they could nationalise the land. But putting unemployed people in the middle and forcing them to negotiate lower rents on behalf of the government is unfair, pushes more peole into illegal practices and further into poverty.


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    #11
    washman3
    Registered Users Posts: 3,646 ✭✭✭washman3


    worded wrote: »
    Im private rented. I dont want the unemployed to suffer but I think rent allowance is putting an artificial floor in the market.
    I would really like the govt to stop paying landlords so much rent allowance.
    Most landlords are not going to turf people out if the govt is paying a % less, LL will take the hit. This in turn wil reduce the private rents.

    Do you think rents are reasonable compared to other countries?

    anytime we hear comparisons with other countries we dont really get the full story,depends on who or what vested intrest is talking. not much point comparing rents in,say Enniscorty,with central London. from my own experience,i am aware of rents in Germany,an apartment (was top class) was about half of Dublin rent and i'm not talking top class in Dublin. by the way the particular block was owned by an institution like say BUPA or VHI.


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    #12
    stargazer 68
    Registered Users Posts: 5,075 ✭✭✭stargazer 68


    Lugh Ildanach wrote: »
    This is not the case. If the rent is above the rent limits, NO rent supplement is payable and the tenant is required to either get the landlord to reduce the rent or find alternative accommodation. The tenant is not permitted to make up the difference.

    Well I get 400 rent allowance a month and I have to pay the other 600! The SW is well aware of how much rent I pay as the landlord has to sign a form every year to verify it.


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    #13
    Lugh Ildanach
    Registered Users Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Lugh Ildanach


    Dovies wrote: »
    Well I get 400 rent allowance a month and I have to pay the other 600! The SW is well aware of how much rent I pay as the landlord has to sign a form every year to verify it.

    This is likely to be because of additional income that you have, not because of the rent limits. There is also a discretion to allow someone to rent above the limits, although it is being used less and less.


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    #14
    stargazer 68
    Registered Users Posts: 5,075 ✭✭✭stargazer 68


    Yeah it is. But 1000 is the limit for the area - the landlord reduced the rent to 1000 as it was over that originally.


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    #15
    Lugh Ildanach
    Registered Users Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Lugh Ildanach


    Dovies wrote: »
    Yeah it is. But 1000 is the limit for the area - the landlord reduced the rent to 1000 as it was over that originally.

    And if your rent was further reduced to 700 Euro, you would still be paying 600 Euro.


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    #16
    Slydice
    Registered Users Posts: 10,501 ✭✭✭✭Slydice


    I'm very interested by the replies on this thread.

    I pay less than 1000 a month for rent in an area where rent allowance max is around 1000 a month.

    I do have a job though. Is it possible for people who have jobs to get rent allowance? Is there thresholds or something?

    Anyone have a link to information about this that I could read?


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    #17
    worded
    Registered Users Posts: 4,533 ✭✭✭worded


    Im the OP.

    Im paying private rent which is too high IMO.

    On top of that Im paying for RA via my taxes to the govt given to fat Landlords. The landlords are getting too high rent for RA. My private rent wont be reviewed downwards because the landlords are sitting pretty from RA.
    Add to that I was wise and didnt get an over priced house/apt in the boom. I dont benefit from mortgage allowances in my taxes. (which allows some people to own an asset at the end of it) So Im subsidising private individuals to gain an asset.

    Its such a tangled web the govt involvement in property.

    Is there any other country in the developed world as skewed as here for property?


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