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Rental allowance limit?

  • 26-04-2009 12:16pm
    #1
    Lizbeth Plain Tackle
    Posts: 7,320 ✭ Lizbeth Plain Tackle


    What is the maximum for the rental allowance? I'm looking at a place thats €500 per month. I've read here in previous posts that the Social will only pay €100 a week. Can I get the €100 a week and pay the rest myself? Thanks for any feedback!


Comments

  • #2
    Xiney
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,085 ✭✭✭Xiney


    The max for rent allowance depends on where you're living.

    As for paying the rest yourself, strictly, no, since the HSE are not in the business of subsidising expensive apartments (although the rates are so low that you'll be lucky to find anything at them)


  • #3
    Lizbeth Plain Tackle
    Posts: 7,320 ✭ Lizbeth Plain Tackle


    Thanks Xiney. I'm in Limerick on my own so yeah it says €100. Funny thing is I see ads on daft.ie for €500 per month saying they don't accept the rental allowance.

    If its not enough then why say they won't accept it???:confused:


  • #4
    Xiney
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,085 ✭✭✭Xiney


    Well, I've never experienced rent allowance personally so this is heresay, but I've heard stories of the HSE simply not paying the full allowance to landlords some months if they don't have the money in that month's budget. So Landlords don't like to accept it for fear of being caught short.

    They also fear that people on rent allowance are scumbags, or because they're not paying their own money to rent they'll take less good care of the place. I feel these last two points are bull. Also, soon enough there will be enough people on rent allowance that landlords won't really be able to discriminate against it unless they want to leave their properties empty.


  • #5
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,436 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Thanks Xiney. I'm in Limerick on my own so yeah it says €100. Funny thing is I see ads on daft.ie for €500 per month saying they don't accept the rental allowance.

    If its not enough then why say they won't accept it???:confused:

    I'm not doing it, but I'm told that "lots" of people have arrangements that involve the tenant and the landlord telling the welfare that the rent is just under the area's limit (eg E390/month).

    The HSE pays the landlord whatever the RA amount is, and the tenant is supposed to just pay the small tenant contribution (and that may be done by adjusting their benefit, and having the HSE pay the whole amount to the landlord ... I'm not sure of the exact mechanics).

    In real life, and officially unbeknown to the welfare folks, the tenant also pays the landlord the difference (eg 500-390 = 110).

    The landlord reports the whole income to the revenue, so they're not breaking the law as such (yeah, right), just telling a wee fib to the welfare.

    No, I'm not advocating this. It is fraud, and that is A Bad Thing. However a friend who works for a homeless support agency told me that one of the CWOs actually told him to get a guy to do this, as it was the ONLY way to get the client out of emergency accommodation.


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