rent supplement

teaglei

hi,
i was just wondering could anyone give some advice my boyfriend just found out yesterday once he is finished up work for Xmas (23rd of Dec) , he won't be back in the new year because they are letting go of staff where he has been working, he pays €90 p/w for 1 bedroom apartment.
I want to plan/know as much as I can before the new year starts,
so.... if he applies for the rent supplement with his Job Seeker's Benefit is there any way of calculating what percentage of his rent will be covered by the supplement?
i looked on the citizens advice website & got myself a little confused...easily done with me sometimes :P
so i hoping someone can help

amtw

If he qualifies for rent supplement, that is if he has been renting for at least 6 months and he was able to afford the payment when he started or if he has been assessed by the local authority within the previous 12 months as been in need of housing then he should qualify for rent supplement.

If the only payment he has is Jobseekers Benefit of €188 per week then he will have to pay €30per week himself and the RS should cover the rest providing his rent is below the maximum for his area, it is €529 per month for a single person (not sharing) in the Dublin area. Other counties have other limits.

Hope this helps

teaglei

thanks a million for the info, it definately helps!!
yeah hes been out renting well over the last 6 months with no problem paying so there should be no problem with that bit anyways.
as far as i know down here (Galway) the max is €468p/m for a single person.
but job seekers benefit, rent supplements etc... are not something either of us had to much experience dealing with, its easy to feel like a fish out of water with all of these things & i want both of us to prepared as possible for the new year as well we all know its highly unlikely much/ if anything will get done over the Christmas in SW
thanks again

snubbleste

teaglei wrote: »

..
as well we all know its highly unlikely much/ if anything will get done over the Christmas in SW
thanks again

I would not say that. It's one of the quieter times of the year.

teaglei

well i just meant with Christmas holidays & all the public holidays around that time it might take a little bit more time, it's not said as an insult it SW or anything

ShaShaBear

I saw a lot of "we's" there, so it's worth noting that obviously things are different if you are living together.
He needs to apply for council housing in the area he is renting, and they will assess his accomodation and either approve or reject him for the council housing list. If he is approved (this visit is on the spot and they don't generally call ahead so it's a good idea to hide the spare toothbrush) then he needs to take the approval letter to his local Community Welfare Officer and they'll get an application running for him. Then the CWO will make a surprise visit to his place to suss it out (hide the spare tshirt and knickers, cause I know quite a few of them in this area who will ask to look in wardrobes and drawers and if you refuse, they're likely to think you have something to hide).
If the CWO decides everything is on board, they'll call himself in and discuss the payment and options. Takes a few weeks, so the sooner he gets the ball rolling the better for him.