Rent Allowence Question??

lisaloo

A friend who is currently Unemployed wants to live in my house. He said that he is entitled to 130 pw Rent Allowence supplement. the rent is 750 per month. Im not sure exactly how this works. can anyone explain how this is paid? Am i liable for tax over a certain amount? its a single man, would he really be entitled to such a payment every week? 130 euro, 520 per month seems like a big payout from Social Welfare.

Victor

I don't think he can afford it. As I understand it, the maximum that he will be allowed is about €450-500 a month of which he is meant to contribute a portion. If the rent is more than that, he gets nothing.

Under the Rent-a-Room scheme you can earn up to €10,000 a year tax-free. This includes all amounts from the tenant, including bills. You need to declare the income, but it isn't taxed.

EKRIUQ

lisaloo wrote: »

A friend who is currently Unemployed wants to live in my house. He said that he is entitled to 130 pw Rent Allowence supplement. the rent is 750 per month. Im not sure exactly how this works. can anyone explain how this is paid? Am i liable for tax over a certain amount? its a single man, would he really be entitled to such a payment every week? 130 euro, 520 per month seems like a big payout from Social Welfare.

It's a great country we have, don't bother working and get €130 a week rent plus €197 dole why would anyone work?

Tzetze

lisaloo wrote: »

A friend who is currently Unemployed wants to live in my house. He said that he is entitled to 130 pw Rent Allowence supplement. the rent is 750 per month. Im not sure exactly how this works. can anyone explain how this is paid? Am i liable for tax over a certain amount? its a single man, would he really be entitled to such a payment every week? 130 euro, 520 per month seems like a big payout from Social Welfare.

Rent allowance is capped at different rates according to different areas. You haven't mentioned which city/area your house is in. In Galway, the caps are €75/week for a single person in shared accommodation and €115/week for a single person in 1 bedroom accommodation. There are other rates for different circumstances, but I'm not aware of these.

If you are in Dublin, these caps will be slightly higher, but for a single person in shared accommodation, I can't imagine it being much more than €90 per week.

If weekly rent is more than the cap, then rent allowance will NOT be issued. The landlord will have to sign a form stating how much the weekly rent is.

If rent allowance is issued, the recipient will still have to pay €13 out of his/her dole towards rent. So, if rent is €75, recipient gets €63 rent allowance.

Bottom line - there's no way your friend can afford €750/month rent on dole and rent allowance alone.

Namesco wrote:

It's a great country we have, don't bother working and get €130 a week rent plus €197 dole why would anyone work?

How about seeking out some facts before you start spouting off against the welfare system. You might need to use it someday.

seahorse

Tzetze wrote: »

If you are in Dublin, these caps will be slightly higher, but for a single person in shared accommodation, I can't imagine it being much more than €90 per week.

I don’t know about shared accommodation, but a single girl I know is currently looking for a bedsit in Dublin and has been told by her community welfare officer that the rent cannot exceed 570 per month. I wouldn’t think the rent allowance ceiling for shared accommodation could be much lower than that in Dublin because the rents certainly aren’t.

Tzetze

seahorse wrote: »

I don’t know about shared accommodation, but a single girl I know is currently looking for a bedsit in Dublin and has been told by her community welfare officer that the rent cannot exceed 570 per month. I wouldn’t think the rent allowance ceiling for shared accommodation could be much lower than that in Dublin because the rents certainly aren’t.

According to Citizen's Information, the maximum rent level for a single person in shared accommodation in Dublin is €98 per week. This equates to just under €425 per calendar month. The fact that it's next to impossible to find a place for this price is irrelevant. I've been looking for a single roomed place closer to college lately. The maximum rent level here in Galway for a single bed place is €498 pcm. In the last 5 months there have been none advertised for anything less than €550. I'm sure your friend who is looking for a place at or under €570 is having the same trouble.

jaffa20

Tzetze wrote: »

According to Citizen's Information, the maximum rent level for a single person in shared accommodation in Dublin is €98 per week. This equates to just under €425 per calendar month. The fact that it's next to impossible to find a place for this price is irrelevant. I've been looking for a single roomed place closer to college lately. The maximum rent level here in Galway for a single bed place is €498 pcm. In the last 5 months there have been none advertised for anything less than €550. I'm sure your friend who is looking for a place at or under €570 is having the same trouble.

A few results for under 500Euro in dublin here so it is possible to get it.

http://www.daft.ie [cc_id]

Tzetze

jaffa20 wrote: »

A few results for under 500Euro in dublin here so it is possible to get it.[/url][cc_id]

Those are shared accommodations.

jaffa20

Tzetze wrote: »

Those are shared accommodations.

No, not all of them. Select lettings. Select Dublin. Select max 500 from price range and you will see some 1 bed studios for 100euro a month. Anyway, sharing or not sharing, you can't be too picky when your on the dole:rolleyes:

Tzetze

Who's being picky? I said I was looking for <500 single bed places in Galway. Of which there are zero. That's not being picky, that's looking for a place within my entitlements.

I'm currently sharing, so I still can't understand your picky comment.

By the way, it's spelt 'you're'. :rolleyes:

jaffa20

Tzetze wrote: »

Who's being picky? I said I was looking for <500 single bed places in Galway. Of which there are zero. That's not being picky, that's looking for a place within my entitlements.

I'm currently sharing, so I still can't understand your picky comment.

By the way, it's spelt 'you're'. :rolleyes:

"I'm sure your friend who is looking for a place at or under €570 is having the same trouble."

Sorry, i was talking about Dublin because someone (you, i believe) said something about the OP's friend having trouble finding rent for under 500Euro to reach the caps for the social welfare. So, I was referring to the OP's friend who is on the dole and can't afford the 750euro rent. If someone is on the dole, they can't be picky. That's all. Anyway, the cheapest i could find for Galway was 530Euro.

jaffa20

Tzetze wrote: »

By the way, it's spelt 'you're'. :rolleyes:

That's being picky :pac:

Tzetze

jaffa20 wrote: »

So, I was referring to the OP's friend who is on the dole and can't afford the 750euro rent.

Ah I see. It was hard (read:impossible) to get that from your post. Sometimes this internetz can be hard work.

Apologies for the pedantic comment.

lisaloo

The property in in Co Laois, i see from Citizens info that the max Rent Supplement is 100 for a single person but is there a cap on what the monthly rent is in order for the tenant to get this supplement i.e does the rent have to be 500pm or something?

eth0_

lisaloo wrote: »

The property in in Co Laois, i see from Citizens info that the max Rent Supplement is 100 for a single person but is there a cap on what the monthly rent is in order for the tenant to get this supplement i.e does the rent have to be 500pm or something?

My housemate is on the dole and they told her 423 was the max they will pay for her rent. So she got the letting agent to say her rent is 423 - it's actually 500 but she is going to pay the difference to me when I pay the rent every month.

Seriously, this country is a joke when it comes to the dole - in the UK you get £50 a week (about 70 euro!) and you are really hounded to find a job, there is just NO incentive in Ireland for a single person on the dole to get back into work! I was on the dole for 3 months a few years ago and had a great holiday from work, and they put no pressure on me at all to get a job.

lisaloo

So if he tells them the rent is 750 per month will they refuse to give him Rent Supplement and say to find somewhere cheaper?

Tzetze

lisaloo wrote: »

So if he tells them the rent is 750 per month will they refuse to give him Rent Supplement and say to find somewhere cheaper?

Yes.

His monthly cap will be 433.33 (multiply 100 by 52 and divide by 12). It's all well and good getting the landlord or letting agent to put down a lower monthly rent on the form and then have the tenant make up the difference out of the dole. But, when you've to make up the difference, then pay ESB and Gas bills, plus feed yourself, this is when the trouble starts.

Edit: I just noticed that the 100 cap you mentioned from citizen's info is for a single person in 1 bed accommodation. You said that he intends to share your house? If he's sharing with you, then his limit is 70 per week, or 303 per calendar month.

lisaloo

He actually wants to take the house on his own 3 bedroom house.

lisaloo

Whats wrong with the tenant living in the house if he makes up the difference himself?

Victor

Ah, I thought he was going to live in the same house as you. If you aren't living there, it is no longer you principal residence and you may face clawback of some reliefs. All the income (less expenses, including bank interest) is taxable.

lisaloo wrote: »

He actually wants to take the house on his own 3 bedroom house.

And he would bring in people to share? If that is the case, there isn't really a problem. If however, he is paying a rent of €750/month, he is going to have severe problems getting rent allowance.

eth0_, your comments about the dole are unwelcome.

lisaloo

Why would he have severe problems if he tells them he will make up the difference?

Tzetze

lisaloo wrote: »

Why would he have severe problems if he tells them he will make up the difference?

They would look at it like this; If he can afford to make up the difference (over €300), then he could afford adequate accommodation for a single person without relying on rent allowance.

lisaloo

its virtually impossible to get a 1 bedroom even in Laois for that amount 350. would he have a case given that he is looking for a job and has interviews lined up, this is just til he gets himself sorted.

Tzetze

Citizen's Info wrote:

The Health Service Executive (HSE) sets a maximum rent level for each county. The maximum rent level is set by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The HSE may set lower rates within these limits. If your actual rent is higher than the local maximum, you may be refused Rent Supplement entirely.

His best option is to talk to the Community Welfare Officer at his local HSE before he enters into any rent-paying agreements.

lisaloo

looks like he may be in trouble as hes already living there. Or im in trouble!!