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Rent Allowance going back to college

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  • 12-06-2012 11:32am
    #1
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi Guys, have a query that I would like some opinions on please. I have been accepted to DCU as a mature student starting september. At the moment I am living at home in Waterford and I am recieving Job Seekers Benefit & will be getting Back To Education Allowance in september. I went to my local Community Welfare Officer about getting Rent Allowance up in Dublin. He said that I would have a good chance of getting Rent Allowance but that I would need to apply to the Community Welfare Officer of the DCU area to see if I could get Rent Allowance. He did not know who I should apply to though.
    Im wondering if anybody could tell me whom I would need to contact in the DCU area to enquire about Rent Allowance as the college themselves were not able to tell me. Would I need to have a house deposit paid before I apply for rent assistance for college?
    Any advice appreciated.


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    #2
    edellc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,787 ✭✭✭edellc


    you need to be renting privately for 6 out of the last 12months and/or be in need of social housing, you my friend have neither so your CWO is wrong and you are not eligible to claim this, going to college while on BTEA is not deemed in need of social housing

    http://www.welfare.ie/en/schemes/supplementarywelfareallowance/pages/rentsupplement.aspx

    why dont you try daft.ie and look for a house share in the same area as your college, they are usually cheap enough and you could afford it out of your BTEA


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    #3
    LegacyUser
    Registered Users Posts: 166,026 ✭✭✭✭LegacyUser


    edellc wrote: »
    you need to be renting privately for 6 out of the last 12months and/or be in need of social housing, you my friend have neither so your CWO is wrong and you are not eligible to claim this, going to college while on BTEA is not deemed in need of social housing

    http://www.welfare.ie/en/schemes/supplementarywelfareallowance/pages/rentsupplement.aspx

    why dont you try daft.ie and look for a house share in the same area as your college, they are usually cheap enough and you could afford it out of your BTEA

    Thank you for the reply, ive started to check out houses in the area so hopefully I should get something to fit the BTEA price range. As regards the CWO, he said that when your on BTEA allowance, if renting will bring you down in money per week, then rent allowance will be provided even if I have not been renting privately for the last 6 months. No harm with checking it out with the CWO in the DCU area I suppose, nothing ventured nothing gained I suppose.


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    #4
    ShaShaBear
    Registered Users Posts: 5,528 ✭✭✭ShaShaBear


    I am from Monaghan and applied for social housing in Dundalk, Louth while sharing with friends last year (as I was getting BTEA for attending college). Got accepted for rent allowance in my flat, although I had to move into it first and get a contract from the landlord to supply to the CWO.

    Use the Google machine to find the address of the Welfare Office most closely situated to DCU and queue to see any CWO there and explain the situation.


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    #5
    Lugh Ildanach
    Registered Users Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Lugh Ildanach


    edellc wrote: »
    you need to be renting privately for 6 out of the last 12months and/or be in need of social housing, you my friend have neither so your CWO is wrong and you are not eligible to claim this, going to college while on BTEA is not deemed in need of social housing

    http://www.welfare.ie/en/schemes/supplementarywelfareallowance/pages/rentsupplement.aspx

    why dont you try daft.ie and look for a house share in the same area as your college, they are usually cheap enough and you could afford it out of your BTEA

    This is not correct. You don't have to have a need for social housing, you have to have been assessed as having a housing need. If you are at college, you still need housing. You should apply for your housing needs to be assessed. If they refuse your application, appeal it. If they accept that you have a housing need, then you will be eligible for rent supplement.

    You should also submit your application for rent supplement as soon as you have applied for your local authority assessment. While they are under no obligation to pay you while your assessment is being conducted, this often happens, as there is a discretionary power to make payment in exceptional circumstances.

    Your BTEA is not supposed to pay for your rent, that is supposed to be the money that you live on. Rent supplement is the scheme that is supposed to help you with rent if social housing cannot be provided.


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