rent allowance

hollybuck

Am just wondering about rent allowance as I am really confused. I am a 19 uear old single mother. I moved into my house 3 months ago and am still waiting on my rent allowance to come through. i paid my first months rent and deposit and have been paying the full 750 euro rent each month. I am struggling with this and am wondering do I have to pay this full amount until my rent allowance comes through or should I only be paying 150 or what ever it is I have to pay when the rent allowance comes through. My landlord doesn't understand how rent allowance works so I think she just thinks I have to pay the full amount. Advice would be greatly appreciated

snubbleste

Yes you do have to pay the full amount

zef

Hi, from what I have read & heard, you must be paying rent for 6 months in a property prior to getting RA.
It must be pretty difficult to manage to pay rent like that on your own?
Have you spoken to your local cwo about waiting so long ? Or have you already been accepted for RA? If not There is always 'exceptional circumstances' , and they can use a bit of discretion i believe.

hollybuck

i have been accepted to the council housing list, have not yet been accepted rent allowance. Alot of saving and no food for me is paying the full amount each month. My CWO is a prick and anytime I mention rent or rent allowance he basically just tells me to **** off. Anyone else renting in same situation? Thanks for your replies

MariMel

Have you been in to see your CWO about why it is taking so long?
There could be any number of reasons why it is.......
that you didnt apply to have your name put down on the local authority housing list.......that your landladys details eg ppsn is wrong......that the CWO hasnt been out for the home visit to make sure the property is ok.
Have you been submitting the forms every month signed by both you and the landlord saying that the rent has been paid and is up to date?
At this moment in time there is little else you can do until you actually know why it has taken so long for your RA to come through. There should be a clinic one morning this week where you can go in and speak to your CWO and find out what the hold up is.

stargazer 68

hollybuck wrote: »

i have been accepted to the council housing list, have not yet been accepted rent allowance. Alot of saving and no food for me is paying the full amount each month. My CWO is a prick and anytime I mention rent or rent allowance he basically just tells me to **** off. Anyone else renting in same situation? Thanks for your replies

If you havent even been told you are getting RA why on earth would you think you dont have to pay the full rent???

hollybuck

because I know I will get it but was just wondering does everyone have to pay the full amount?

MariMel

hollybuck wrote: »

i have been accepted to the council housing list, have not yet been accepted rent allowance. Alot of saving and no food for me is paying the full amount each month. My CWO is a prick and anytime I mention rent or rent allowance he basically just tells me to **** off. Anyone else renting in same situation? Thanks for your replies

Have you actually applied for rent allowance? Filled out the form and had your landlady sign all her parts. I am not sure by you comment.
If you do apply and are turned down you can appeal the decision. It still might not work out in your favour though.

cat2012

hope this helps!!

Getting Rent Supplement
Rent Supplement will only be provided if the accommodation is suitable for your needs and the rent is below the maximum rent limit set for your county.

You may get Rent Supplement if you have been living for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months in one, or a combination, of the following:

Accommodation for homeless people.
Private rented accommodation. You can combine time living in more than one rented accommodation to satisfy the 6 months (183 days). You must be able to show that you could afford the rent at the beginning of your tenancy and that you could have continued to pay rent but are unable to do so because of a change in your circumstances which occurred after you started renting.
An institution, for example, a hospital, care home or place of detention.
Or

Have been assessed by a local authority as being eligible for and in need of social housing in the last 12 months. If you don't have a housing need assessment, you must go to the local authority to have your housing need assessed. The local authority must be in the area that you intend to live and claim Rent Supplement. Only when you are assessed as eligible for and in need of housing can you apply for Rent Supplement. Rent Supplement is not payable while the local authority is carrying out a housing needs assessment.
You must also:

Pass a habitual residence test
Pass a means test
You won’t qualify for Rent Supplement if you:

Are in full-time employment (30 hours or more a week). However, if you are assessed as in need of housing under the Rental Accommodation Scheme and have been out of full-time employment for 12 months or more you may be entitled to the Supplement - see ‘Employment and Rent Supplement’ below
Have refused a second offer of local authority accommodation in an 12-month period. In this case, you cannot claim Rent Supplement for 12 months.
Are leaving local authority housing without reasonable cause.
Have been excluded from social housing by a local authority for reasons of good estate management or anti-social behaviour.
Are attending full-time education. However, if you are getting a Back to Education Allowance or participating in the Back to Education Programme you may be entitled to the Supplement.
Renting from a parent: You cannot get Rent Supplement to help you pay rent to your parent if you are living in the family home. If your parent owns a second property, you will generally not get Rent Supplement to rent this property from them unless it is a bona fide tenancy and you are assessed as having a housing need. Your parent must also be able to prove that they have a history of renting this property.

hollybuck

sorry yes I have applied, sent off all my details and had my landlord fill out everything. Also have a letter from my social worker stating my need for this particular house and the rush for it.

stargazer 68

hollybuck wrote: »

sorry yes I have applied, sent off all my details and had my landlord fill out everything. Also have a letter from my social worker stating my need for this particular house and the rush for it.

Ok but until it comes through yes you do have to pay your rent in full

hollybuck

ok thank you

snubbleste

Dovies wrote: »

Ok but until it comes through yes you do have to pay your rent in full

That's what i said

hollybuck

Sorry only saw your comment now. Thanks a mill

MariMel

seriously, go into your CWO and ask why its taking so long. I like to go into see them as smiley happy as I can be and as calm as can be too.
I dont know about your area but it doesnt take remotely 3 months here once approved for RA for it to come through. And once the forms are in you would find out within a week or two if you've been successful with your application....not 3 months.
As Ive said it could be something really simple.

Oh and if you have had a letter of support from your social worker.....contact them to maybe phone on your behalf.

hollybuck

I am living in Co. Kildare. Yes I think I will have to visit him very shortly. Even though he always says it's nothing to do with him and he doesn't know.

MariMel

I'm not sure of the procedure since you are in kildare and assessed through the centralised rents unit. This is maybe when you might be better off getting someone like your social worker to call on your behalf and find out how much longer it will all take.
Maybe someone on this forum would know how long it takes to go through that unit rather than the normal dealing with the CWOs direct.

Slydice

Another thing to bear in mind are the rates being paid for RA. They are on this page:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/rent_supplement.html

For Single Parents in Kildare, the rates are:
with 1 child: 690
with 2 children: 725
with 3 children: 790

Do you have 3 children? If you don't, you might be disqualifying yourself for RA because of the rent being higher than the max rate of RA.

sligoface

slydice has a good point. if you don't have three kids you stand a very good chance of not qualifying. it's a backdoor cut to keep people off rent allowance - make the rent limits far lower than anything available on the market. my sister is a single mum and it happened to her. and before this, they took her rent allowance away for refusing a council house that had no central whatsoever and no flooring. hope things work out better for you, i know it is tough, was raised by a single mum too!

MariMel

sligoface wrote: »

slydice has a good point. if you don't have three kids you stand a very good chance of not qualifying. it's a backdoor cut to keep people off rent allowance - make the rent limits far lower than anything available on the market. my sister is a single mum and it happened to her. and before this, they took her rent allowance away for refusing a council house that had no central whatsoever and no flooring. hope things work out better for you, i know it is tough, was raised by a single mum too!

No central heating at all??? Or was it solid fuel heating? I had a council house before that was solid fuel (a fireplace in the kitchen) so the house was always cold in the morning which was a pain in the ass but it got to the stage where I could light a fire in minutes and have the place heating up pretty quickly. Sure gas or oil are handier and cleaner only needing the flick of a switch but for me buying coal every week meant I never had a huge bill to face. Made budgeting easier.
As for flooring.....it doesnt come with council houses as far as I know, why should it. You can get a grant towards white goods, beds etc....up to you to use it wisely. Doesnt cover everything but its huge help. I put down cheap vinyl flooring in the kitchen, living room and my sons bedroom.....then over time did the other rooms as and when i had the money. Didnt have anything on the hall/stairs/landing for first 2 yrs i was there.

You won’t qualify for Rent Supplement if you:

Have refused a second offer of local authority accommodation in an 12-month period. In this case, you cannot claim Rent Supplement for 12 months

sligoface

it was only the first offer she refused and they still took her rent allowance away for 12 months. disgraceful.

there was a fireplace but i don't see how that is considered central heating as it only heats one room. also, she there were radiators but no boiler. the council told her that the boiler had been removed so it would not be stolen (perhaps because they thoughtfully gave her a house near where many caravans where parked illegally much of the year). they said the boiler would be replaced, then they said they didn't have it.

she couldn't take a place with no central heat, my niece was only 3 or 4 and has eczema (as do myself and sister, it is hard to manage esp. in cold weather). also my sister was in college so lighting a fire and waiting for it to heat up would not have been practical.

what made it especially frustrating, she was on the list for 3 years at least, to be offered a substandard house. just up the road a whole estate of really nice houses (with floors and OFCH) had been filled in the meantime, about half of them are non-Irish, and more than one have partners living with them that they don't declare, with Mercs in the drive.

she finally got it back, but i think she will soon get hit with more cuts to lone parent/child benefit.

it's really crappy because she has not had a partner since she's had the child at all and she tries to do the right things. the father effed off to Oz before the kid was born, got married to someone else so he never has to come back. never seen the kid or given a penny.

caroline32

does any one have any info on if one is entitled to go on ras if they surrender a council house?

MariMel

sligoface wrote: »

it was only the first offer she refused and they still took her rent allowance away for 12 months. disgraceful.

there was a fireplace but i don't see how that is considered central heating as it only heats one room. also, she there were radiators but no boiler.


it's really crappy because she has not had a partner since she's had the child at all and she tries to do the right things. the father effed off to Oz before the kid was born, got married to someone else so he never has to come back. never seen the kid or given a penny.

There is no way she should have had it taken off her if she refused once. That was terrible. No following their own rules!!

The fire in my kitchen had a back boiler.......and it heated the hot water in the tank then push a button and it went round the radiators.

I hear you on the no maintenance thing. My sons father went to Scandinavia 3 yrs ago and not paid maintenance in over 4 and a half years probably more. I contacted the irish central authority for maintenance recovery. Got forms to fill in.....complicated stuff!!! But apparently they are really good at getting results even though it takes a long time. Ive waited this long, if i have to wait another year so be it
Ive just looked it up for you and Australia is one of the countries in the UN convention on the recovery abroad of maintenance payments.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/separation_and_divorce/maintenance_orders_and_agreements.html
Could be worth looking into. They need as much information about the father as possible, photos, area they live in. Apparently I am lucky as I actually know where he is working (the benefit of him having a low privacy setting on his facebook) Good luck

caroline32

you should be backdated any way from the date of your application