Procedure for applying for Rent Allowance ?

eskimo

I have just been reading this thread http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055662680 and it has added some doom and gloom to my plans.

I currently live in Galway, and I am moving back to Dublin in a month to rent a room somewhere in the city centre. Can anyone tell me in simple terms,step by step, what I need to do in order to apply for and receive rent allowance? i.e. Where exactly must I go to apply... What are the current waiting times to be approved and to the begin receiving the rent allowance... etc..

Many thanks in advance.

yawn

you need to be in the accomadation for 6 months i think nowadays before you can be approved. It's done on a case by case basis with the local relieving officer. When I lost my job I had to pop around to my officer & I just got it as I had only moved to a new house a few months before losing my job and was only just there 6 months when I got the axe.

However once I signed onto the local council housing list I recieved a back payment 3 days later and the up to date payment that week so it helped me a lot.

yawn

sorry forgot to mention, where I live isn't heavily populated so it was much quicker.

With Dublin I'd imagine there might be a backlog of people to get thru on the housing list alone which you must be on before you can qualify for the rent allowance so check it out first

eskimo

Thanks Yawn for all that info.

Does anybody know where exactly I need to go to apply for rent allowance? I will be renting a room in Dublin city centre.

eskimo

Just wondering if anyone can shed any more light on this.

Is there a way to qualify for instant rent allowance without having to wait the six months? I can't afford to pay for six months' accommodation.

Fran79

Hi
you will need to apply to the local council and have your housing needs assessed. If the council agrees that you are in need of housing then you can apply for rent allowance (they give you a letter and a ref number which the cwo will need).

Please be warned this is not a quick fix, we waited 2-3 months earlier this year to be assessed by the council. Our Rent allowance was not back dated while we waited for the council. On the upside once the CWO had all our paper work it was all sorted in 10 days.

HTH

Fran

Elliee

I applied to get on the housing list back in January. It was 4 and a half months before I recieved a letter to say I was on the list.
I am in North Dublin

Shelli

Did you have a home check? How long were you waiting for that, anf how long after that did you get your answer?

Elliee

No home check to get on the housing list.
However I am a single parent so I was going on the housing list either way.
I did not apply for rent allowance.
I believe the waiting time after you get the letter to say your on the list is 1-2 weeks

tony1212

hi guys, i have a few questions about rent allowance aswell, i signed on to the dole in may of this year, and then i applied for rent allowance in first week of june, i am still waiting to hear anything back, i live with my wife and child, we are renting a house in limerick county, that is 550 a month, how much do you think i will get towards the rent, and will i get backdated from june, thanks in advance for the answers. tony....

Xiney

Have you contacted the CWO to see why it's taking so long? Or was that you just applying to get on the housing list?

It looks like you're under the threshold for your area, but without knowing your means (capital, income etc) we can't tell you how much you are likely to receive.



I'd follow up on it though, since that's a long time to be waiting.

tony1212

sorry, ya i had to get on the council housing scheme, im finding hard enough to pay the rent as it is, and have to pay the bills, thanks for your help