Rent allowance

LegacyUser

I have been living on a relative's couch and on job seeker's allowance for around 6 months now. It being a one bedroom flat it is becoming very frustrating for them having me there for so long for what was meant to be a temporary fixture.

I was wondering would I be entitled to any rent allowance for me to move out and get my own place? I am contributing a percentage of my social welfare to my relatives for letting me stay but no way could I afford proper rent, is there anything out there to help me while I am seeking work?

Thanks

tristanc

I've been on the dole for the last 4 months (job starting in a month, thank god!) and have been sharing a flat with mates (in Galway) without any rent allowance.

I know a number of folks here who are paying rent out of the dole, and almost none of them have rent allowance (it's apparently a bit of a pain to apply for).

You certainly have to live cheaply, but you should be able to move out even without rent allowance.

Darlughda

What you need to do is to go the the Community Welfare Officer.

This is seperate from the dole office, although they will be able to advise you where he/she is located. Explain your situation to that person and the fact that you are in effect homeless; sleeping on a mate's couch.

Be aware their opening hours are usually 10-11.30am only a couple of days a week so you need to be on the ball, and get yourself down there to speak to the relevant person as soon as possible.

In the meantime, do everything you can to find a place of your own or a houseshare that accepts rent allowance, v. hard, I warn you know, but you need to know what the situation is.

Although there are certain exceptions, usually it takes around 6 months for someone who is in receipt of Jobseekers allowance or benefit or Illness benefit to become eligible for rent allowance. However, there are confusing exceptions to this. Most important is get your ass down to the community welfare officer now.

Stu

I was in a similiar situation to yourself OP a couple of years ago so know the ins and outs of what you need to do to sort out rent allowance.

Firstly, you are entitled to claim rent allowance and will be accepted provided you do the following ..........

You must be on the Social Housing List. If you have not applied to be on the housing list then you will need to get this sorted ASAP. You need to go to the housing Dept. in Dublin City Council on Wood Quay, Dublin 2 to get the ball rolling.

Unfortunately this can take a few weeks to a couple of months to get processed but you can get everything sorted much quicker if you get a letter from the Homeless Persons Unit in Pearse Street (trinity College end). Phone the Freephone number on page 6 of the PDF link below and explain your situation, they are very helpful and will give you a letter to bring to Dublin City Council ..........

http://www.homelessagency.ie/getdoc/b3974e49-e212-4585-aaec-5d878a8a84e2/The-Streets-%28Version-4---November-2007%29.aspx

Don't worry about being accepted with Rent Allowance. Most landlords nowadays will accept rent allowance if you are presentable. It doesn't carry the same stigma it did years ago because of the recession. The quality of rented accomodation is slightly better over the southside for what you can get if on rent allowance but finding accomodation won't be a problem. The Homeless Persons Unit may help you with a deposit also once they've spoken to you and assessed your situation.

But you need to get the ball rolling with getting on the housing list. Without that form, no community Welfare Officer will give you rent allowance. That is the most important form you need. You won't need to see the CWO until your confirmed on the housing list and have got the form (stamped) from Dublin City Council.

You then look for a Bedsit/Studio/Flat no more expensive than €528 per month (max rent allowance for single person in private rented accomodation). Plenty of places out there that are half decent for around €500 per month. Once you've found a place you need to get the landlord to fill out his section of the Rent Allowance Form (download from here) ..........

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Forms/Documents/swa3.pdf

Only then do you go to see the Community Welfare Officer. You will need to make a note of the Postcode of your New Residence and find out where the particular CWO for that area sits. Again, use the freephone number in the first PDF on page 6 and they will tell you where to go. Once you see the CWO, all they want from you is the Rent supplement form filled out by both you and the Landlord and the Social Housing Form from Dublin City Council. There are a couple of other forms to fill but the CWO will give you these forms when you meet them. You'll be sorted within a few day to a week with the Rent Allowance and have yourself a nice little flat you can call home.

LegacyUser

OP here,

Thanks Stu for the excellent informative post. Very helpful indeed.

Just have a few more quick questions.

I picked up my forms for the social housing today off Dublin CoCo as I am currently living withing their catchment. If I got rent allowance I'd be hoping to living withing Fingal's catchment, am I right in applying for Dublin CoCo as I'm living there now?

Also will applying for these things affect my social welfare payments at all?

Thanks again

OP you could find a room in a houseshare for only a few hundred maybe that would work if you don't get the rent allowance

good luck

steddyeddy

rent advice wrote: »

OP here,

Thanks Stu for the excellent informative post. Very helpful indeed.

Just have a few more quick questions.

I picked up my forms for the social housing today off Dublin CoCo as I am currently living withing their catchment. If I got rent allowance I'd be hoping to living withing Fingal's catchment, am I right in applying for Dublin CoCo as I'm living there now?

Also will applying for these things affect my social welfare payments at all?

Thanks again

What you would have to do there is get the finglas landlord to sign the form and then drop it into your nearest social welfare office, bear in mind it can take maybe two months to even be put on th social housing list

Bob Z

Darlughda wrote: »

What you need to do is to go the the Community Welfare Officer.

This is seperate from the dole office, although they will be able to advise you where he/she is located. Explain your situation to that person and the fact that you are in effect homeless; sleeping on a mate's couch.

Be aware their opening hours are usually 10-11.30am only a couple of days a week so you need to be on the ball, and get yourself down there to speak to the relevant person as soon as possible.

In the meantime, do everything you can to find a place of your own or a houseshare that accepts rent allowance, v. hard, I warn you know, but you need to know what the situation is.

Although there are certain exceptions, usually it takes around 6 months for someone who is in receipt of Jobseekers allowance or benefit or Illness benefit to become eligible for rent allowance. However, there are confusing exceptions to this. Most important is get your ass down to the community welfare officer now.

What are the exceptions?

Stu

rent advice wrote: »

OP here,

Thanks Stu for the excellent informative post. Very helpful indeed.

Just have a few more quick questions.

I picked up my forms for the social housing today off Dublin CoCo as I am currently living withing their catchment. If I got rent allowance I'd be hoping to living withing Fingal's catchment, am I right in applying for Dublin CoCo as I'm living there now?

Also will applying for these things affect my social welfare payments at all?

Thanks again

OP, when applying to go on the social housing list you should have been asked to name 3 areas you would like to live in the event that you are offered social housing. Then they process your application and send you out a letter to your current residence but it can take weeks or months.

I don't know exactly how it works nowadays but i'm guessing you need to fill out the forms and bring them into Dublin City Council Housing Dept. on Wood Quay and have a chat with one of their housing staff on when you will get confirmation that you are on the housing list. If you have choosen to pick areas like Swords, Rush, Balbriggan then i reckon you would need to have your application processed with Dublin County Council.

Once you have this form (stamped) by Dublin City Council, you can then look for a flat anywhere in Dublin and when you find one that accepts rent allowance (most do), you then see the Community Welfare Officer for that area. You will also need to Bring your Passport to the CWO and the other forms i mentioned above and will be asked to fill out a Habitual Residency form. Your social Welfare will not be affected. You will be entitled to €98 euros max rent allowace per week and €194 social welfare.

steddyeddy

Stu wrote: »

OP, when applying to go on the social housing list you should have been asked to name 3 areas you would like to live in the event that you are offered social housing. Then they process your application and send you out a letter to your current residence but it can take weeks or months.

I don't know exactly how it works nowadays but i'm guessing you need to fill out the forms and bring them into Dublin City Council Housing Dept. on Wood Quay and have a chat with one of their housing staff on when you will get confirmation that you are on the housing list. If you have choosen to pick areas like Swords, Rush, Balbriggan then i reckon you would need to have your application processed with Dublin County Council.

Once you have this form (stamped) by Dublin City Council, you can then look for a flat anywhere in Dublin and when you find one that accepts rent allowance (most do), you then see the Community Welfare Officer for that area. You will also need to Bring your Passport to the CWO and the other forms i mentioned above and will be asked to fill out a Habitual Residency form. Your social Welfare will not be affected. You will be entitled to €98 euros max rent allowace per week and €194 social welfare.

Yes your right stu thats stil how its done, i went in with a friend of mine recently.

LegacyUser

Stu wrote: »

OP, when applying to go on the social housing list you should have been asked to name 3 areas you would like to live in the event that you are offered social housing. Then they process your application and send you out a letter to your current residence but it can take weeks or months.

Thanks again Stu for the information. What has me a bit confused is I am currently living in Dublin City Council area but if I was to get rent allowance I'd want to live in a Fingal area (e.g. Clonsilla). I know I'd have to go to a CWO in the place I want to live when I'm on the social housing list, but which social housing list do I apply to for the social housing?

Stu

rent advice wrote: »

Thanks again Stu for the information. What has me a bit confused is I am currently living in Dublin City Council area but if I was to get rent allowance I'd want to live in a Fingal area (e.g. Clonsilla). I know I'd have to go to a CWO in the place I want to live when I'm on the social housing list, but which social housing list do I apply to for the social housing?

Applying for social housing is totally seperate to claiming rent allowance in terms of what area you want to live when you claim rent allowance. I'll give you a hypothetical example .........

You currently live in the Dublin City Council Catchment area and are in the process of applying for social housing. If you wish to be offered a house in the DCC catchment area You would speak to someone in the Housing Dept. of DCC on Wood Quay and give them 3 areas you would like to live within their Catchment. For example, you might ask to be housed in (Finglas, Cabra, Phibsboro) or (Ballymun, Santry, Drumcondra). If you wish to be housed in (Sallynoggin, Dalkey or Sandycove) for example, you would need to find out what council deals with applications to these areas and apply through that particular council but DCC will give you all the info anyway when you speak to them.

When you get the form (stamped) from Dublin City Council you can look for a flat/Bedsit, anywhere in dublin, not just in the DCC Catchment area. If you mean you would like to live in Clonsilla when offered Social Housing then i don't know what Council deals with that area but you can ring Dublin City CouNcil at (01) 222 2222 and they will tell you where to go.

You can phone up and arrange an appointment with a Welfare Officer in Dublin City Council to discuss everything. They sit on Friday for appointments or you can just go in between 10.00am -12.00 every morning and take a ticket. Its a pity all this info isn't on one website. It took me weeks to get all the info together but rest assured OP, as soon as you have that Social Housing form, you can start looking for a flat. Get the Homeless Mens Unit (link in first post) to write you a letter to speed up the process. They are very helpful and will fast track your application once they know you are sleeping on a relatives couch (effectively homeless).

You won't get offered Social Housing for a long long time, possibly 10 years or longer by which time you'll probably have bought your own house anyway. I know people (mainly single men) who have been on the list 10 - 15 years and don't have anywhere near enough points to be offered a house.

calex71

Regardless of the above good advice op go to the community welfare officer tomorrow, he will date the application form meaning that you will be paid if the application is successful from that date. This needs to be your 1st stop!!!!!!!!

Basically you tell them you want to apply for the rent supplement and they give you a form and date it, getting on the housing list is on the things to do list on the form they will give you.

In my case I had a very pleasant guy who backdated the date on the form by 2 months.

Don't be put off by the fact there are hoops to jump and leg work going to the tax office , counsel office etc etc none of these people bite ...... much.

LegacyUser

I'm in a similar situation to the OP but some details are different.

Me and the girlfriend are talking about moving in together, I'm in a full time job on minimum wage and she's unemployed.

She showed me her Social Hosting form I was wondering would I need to fill this is too?

Then what way does it work when she goes for rent allowance? Do they take my earnings into account? Will it affect it in any way? Will she even be entitled if we wanted to live together?

steddyeddy

advice please wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation to the OP but some details are different.

Me and the girlfriend are talking about moving in together, I'm in a full time job on minimum wage and she's unemployed.

She showed me her Social Hosting form I was wondering would I need to fill this is too?

Then what way does it work when she goes for rent allowance? Do they take my earnings into account? Will it affect it in any way? Will she even be entitled if we wanted to live together?

you would definatly need to fill a section in it yes.

The_Conductor

OP- If you wish to live in Fingal- you have to apply to Fingal Co.Co. seperately. Your application to Dublin City Council does not cover other council areas.

There are two other fora on boards where you'll get good information the State Benefits thread here and the Accommodation and Property thread here.

Shane

Aceandy8

Bit of topic but just wondering can i get get rent allowance as a single person living alone in a two bed apartment in wicklow if it works out approx same as a one bed as i cannot find a one bed and urgently have to move?? thanks guys

LegacyUser

When you are applying to be assessed as having a housing need you apply to the area where you have been living for the las 6 months I think it is...regardless of where you intend to live. That's what I did and then when you are applying for rent supplement you find the local health office of where you intend to rent. By all means, go straight to the local health office of where you are now, get the form, but it has to be processed in the area where you are renting. This is what I did and it all worked out grand. Housing authority is different as then you would be able to pick and choose the area where you want to live...you have to go to the one in the area you have been living in for the last few months as far as I know.
Gud luck