Rent Supplement refusal- Please Advise!

voxbot

Hi everyone, I've searched everywhere on this forum for any information about my particular circumstances and I can't find anything so I created a new thread. It's a little bit complicated, so thanks for reading on!

I recently applied for rent supplement, and received a letter saying my claim was refused because I had been unemployed since May 2010, and the tenancy commenced in April 2011, so I wouldn't have been able to afford to commence the tenancy just on JA. I understand that you have to prove that you were able to pay the rent at the start of the tenancy, and can no longer do so. However, these are my circumstances:

I was working in Cork up until May until my place of work closed down. I moved to my home-town, Limerick hoping to find a job there, and I knew the rent was cheaper too. I applied for Jobseeker's Allowance in the meantime, but unfortunately there was a huge backlog of claims and I had to wait 7 months for my JA. So I was literally living on the breadline- not fun! Anyway, my claim came through in November/Dec back-dated to May, I still had no success finding a job so I decided to use this lump sum to move to Dublin, thinking I'd have a better chance up here and if not, there were some excellent college courses that I could apply to, so I'd have a better chance at employment in the future.

I worked out that I had enough in my back-pay for deposit, first month's rent and 100 euro a month towards every month for the rest of the year's rent.

Anyway, after paying rent, deposit etc, there were many, MANY more unforeseen expenses. Moving costs, Airtricity security deposit, bills, the house was barely furnished so I had to buy a microwave, toaster, kitchen utensils, the cost of living in Dublin.. the list goes on. Basically by the time I paid my second month's rent, the backpay was practically gone. So does that fall under the category of "being able to afford the rent at the start of tenancy, and then not being able to afford it"?

Does anyone think that they're just nitpicking here? It's possible that maybe I should have applied for rent supplement when I first became unemployed, but I didn't need it then and i don't believe in claiming for something you don't need. The fact is I budgeted as best I could and tried my best to make it work, but now I REALLY need help. I paid my third month's rent this week and I have no money left.. zip.

I called the Rents Unit for some advice before sending it off, and the guy was really helpful. He advised me to appeal it asap and try to get on the housing list which could help me get rent supplement too. So, I already called and they're sending me out a Housing Needs form on monday. But does anyone know how long it takes to get on the list? I've also sent in my appeal letter to the Appeals Officer with all the details mentioned above.. do I stand a chance? I'm broke beyond belief!

Stressssss .. Please help if you can..

Balagan

For your immediate situation, you may be able to get an emergency payment from your Community Welfare Officer and don't forget that the St. Vincent de Paul http://www.svp.ie/Home.aspx gives assistance. I'd suggest sussing out both these possibilities immediately as you must eat and keep a roof over your head. It can take some time to get on the housing list and so you should supply covering letter with your application stressing that it's an emergency.