Rent allowance

SteelyDanJalapeno

Hi,

I'll be renting a place from the 1st week of June for the 1st time ever and mula is gonna be tight, whats the craic with rent allowance?

Some people are saying that i'll need to pay for 6 months 1st is this correct?

it's all very confusing

mp22

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.

From here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/rent_supplement.html

SteelyDanJalapeno

Great, Thanks very much

Clauric

Just to hijack this post slightly.

I'm currently living in rented accomodation. When I moved in, I was paying rent, but after I lost my job, the landlord's daughter (landlord had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to take care of her affairs) allowed me to stay, on condition that I maintain the house (basically, a live in handiman). That was 2008.

Fast forward to this year. The landlord died 15 months ago, and the executrix told me that she was putting the house up for sale this year. The executrix and I spent the last 3 months tidying the house, to her satisfaction (cleaning out her mother's stuff, deciding what to keep, etc) and getting it ready for the market.

I have been told that I am welcome to stay in the house until it is sold, but must move out then. My question is: what do I do then?

I can't move back in with my parents (for various reasons). I have no money, and cannot afford to rent a room or house on my own (I am on JA). Is it possible to apply directly for rent allowance without having been "renting" for last 6 months?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Immaculata

Clauric wrote: »

Just to hijack this post slightly.

I'm currently living in rented accomodation. When I moved in, I was paying rent, but after I lost my job, the landlord's daughter (landlord had suffered a stroke and was no longer able to take care of her affairs) allowed me to stay, on condition that I maintain the house (basically, a live in handiman). That was 2008.

Fast forward to this year. The landlord died 15 months ago, and the executrix told me that she was putting the house up for sale this year. The executrix and I spent the last 3 months tidying the house, to her satisfaction (cleaning out her mother's stuff, deciding what to keep, etc) and getting it ready for the market.

I have been told that I am welcome to stay in the house until it is sold, but must move out then. My question is: what do I do then?

I can't move back in with my parents (for various reasons). I have no money, and cannot afford to rent a room or house on my own (I am on JA). Is it possible to apply directly for rent allowance without having been "renting" for last 6 months?

Clauric, I'd suggest you get straight on to your local council's housing department, explain your situation, and, if you don't already have a social housing application in, waste no time in filling out and submitting one.

If it's possible, get the executrix lady to write a letter backing up your description of your situation. The executrix should hopefully be okay with backing you up - it's not like she owes taxes from the estate on the rent you were paying, since you weren't paying rent! Gather any official documents that show you were living where you say you were living, such as bank statements/tax documents/phone bills/credit union books/cable TV agreements/doctor's invoices/Social Welfare documents with that address on it, and bring those with you. If you have a tenancy agreement, rent receipts from 2008, or anything like that, bring them too.

All of this should hopefully go to show that you weren't living at home for the last six months and, together with your housing need assessment (i.e. your accepted and processed social housing application from the housing department) should, I hope, be enough to support your rent allowance application without you having to pay rent someplace for six months beforehand, but unfortunately I cannot say for sure as it's up to the discretion of the officials. Good luck.