RAS Scheme info - anyone on it?

MamaBee92

Hi guys,

I've been on rent allowance for nearly 18 months and I'm pretty sure I'm entitled to RAS after January, but I'm finding it really difficult to get answers to my questions so I was wondering if anyone could help me.

How are houses allocated?

The house I'm living in is a dump and I don't want this to be the house I'm in when I'm on RAS, so do they give you a budget and tell you to find a house?

If so, what is the budget?

Are there any other rules?

Do you have to stay in that house or can you move and still be on RAS?

Are utilities separate?

How long does it take to apply for RAS?

I'd love any other information you could give me as I don't know anything about it and anyone I've asked has different answers.

Thanks in advance
X

handlemaster

MamaBee92 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've been on rent allowance for nearly 18 months and I'm pretty sure I'm entitled to RAS after January, but I'm finding it really difficult to get answers to my questions so I was wondering if anyone could help me.

How are houses allocated?

The house I'm living in is a dump and I don't want this to be the house I'm in when I'm on RAS, so do they give you a budget and tell you to find a house?

If so, what is the budget?

Are there any other rules?

Do you have to stay in that house or can you move and still be on RAS?

Are utilities separate?

How long does it take to apply for RAS?

I'd love any other information you could give me as I don't know anything about it and anyone I've asked has different answers.

Thanks in advance
X

You will have to be in the house with a LL willing to do RAS scheme. Good luck with that there isn't much incentive for the landlord

MamaBee92

handlemaster wrote: »

You will have to be in the house with a LL willing to do RAS scheme. Good luck with that there isn't much incentive for the landlord

I thought there was more incentive to the landlord because the rent is paid by the local authority and the tenant pays the local authority, as opposed to rent allowance where the tenant gets weekly payment into their bank account from the local authority and has to pay the LL that way.

fussyonion

MamaBee92 wrote: »

I thought there was more incentive to the landlord because the rent is paid by the local authority and the tenant pays the local authority, as opposed to rent allowance where the tenant gets weekly payment into their bank account from the local authority and has to pay the LL that way.

The downside is that the council pay less than the market rate to the LL.

handlemaster

MamaBee92 wrote: »

I thought there was more incentive to the landlord because the rent is paid by the local authority and the tenant pays the local authority, as opposed to rent allowance where the tenant gets weekly payment into their bank account from the local authority and has to pay the LL that way.

LL has to sign up for 5 yrs with 20% less open market rental.

foggy_lad

fussyonion wrote: »

The downside is that the council pay less than the market rate to the LL.

Slightly less than the market rates but the up side is that the rent payment is guaranteed and all tenants are vetted by the council and should also be confirmed as not being involved in drugs or anti social behaviour by the Gardai.

handlemaster wrote: »

LL has to sign up for 5 yrs with 20% less open market rental.

There are other leases such as 2 years and 10 years. Can you show your source for the figure of 20% less than the market rate? Is that figure relating to one particular property that was probably too expensive anyway or is it scheme-wide?

MamaBee92

Thanks so much for your help everyone its really great information. Can anyone tell me is there a budget for the house you're in? For example, I'm a lone parent and my budget for rent allowance is a lease of €950 per month, which is obviously near impossible to find in Dublin, is there a bit more wriggle room for RAS?

handlemaster

foggy_lad wrote: »

Slightly less than the market rates but the up side is that the rent payment is guaranteed and all tenants are vetted by the council and should also be confirmed as not being involved in drugs or anti social behaviour by the Gardai.

There are other leases such as 2 years and 10 years. Can you show your source for the figure of 20% less than the market rate? Is that figure relating to one particular property that was probably too expensive anyway or is it scheme-wide?

just as the relevant authority.

Plus Co Co don't like to work so they take forever and a day to sort stuff out. Its just not worth it from LL and they are left will all the BS after so what is the point.

hfallada

foggy_lad wrote: »

Slightly less than the market rates but the up side is that the rent payment is guaranteed and all tenants are vetted by the council and should also be confirmed as not being involved in drugs or anti social behaviour by the Gardai.

Im not trying to be smart. But a LL can generally find out within 2 mins whether or not a potential tenant will be hassle or not. Regardless of a Gardai report. I have only heard of one LL I know having an issue with drugs(I know a ton of LLs).Which was only discovered when his mother was cleaning the house and found a bag of "baking soda" in a resealable bag. This was the 1980s and none of them have had issues since

Moonbeam

I did not know that RAS tenants were Garda vetted.
The council make it very unattractive to landlords to take rent allowance the main thing that turned me off is that you get no deposit and maintenance etc are still your responsibility.
As a landlord that has had rent allowance tenants they do not make that a very attractive option either.
I disagrree about knowing within 2 minutes if a tenant will be an issue or not,I have had a selection and they varied widely.

foggy_lad

MamaBee92 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your help everyone its really great information. Can anyone tell me is there a budget for the house you're in? For example, I'm a lone parent and my budget for rent allowance is a lease of €950 per month, which is obviously near impossible to find in Dublin, is there a bit more wriggle room for RAS?

A house/property must be suitable for your needs and within a budget set out by the council housing office. If your child is young you may be expected to accept a single bedroom place but if the child is older you would be placed in a two bedroom house or apartment or flat.

handlemaster wrote: »

just as the relevant authority.

Plus Co Co don't like to work so they take forever and a day to sort stuff out. Its just not worth it from LL and they are left will all the BS after so what is the point.

WEll they don't have much bullsh1t from the council and they are guaranteed to get their rent paid regularly. Are you thinking of some other scheme? we are not talking about rent supplement but another scheme called the rental accommodation scheme.

Moonbeam wrote: »

I did not know that RAS tenants were Garda vetted.
The council make it very unattractive to landlords to take rent allowance the main thing that turned me off is that you get no deposit and maintenance etc are still your responsibility.
As a landlord that has had rent allowance tenants they do not make that a very attractive option either.
I disagrree about knowing within 2 minutes if a tenant will be an issue or not,I have had a selection and they varied widely.

Yes Carlow CoCo insist on Gardai confirming the applicants are not known for drugs and anti social offences. Are you also confusing rent allowance/supplement and RAS?

most landlords signed up to RAS get paid a deposit either by the tenant if they have a deposit due from previous accommodation(topped up by council if needed) or the council pay the full deposit. After that the landlord carries on as if it were any other lease and letting! they get a guaranteed payment from the council and the tenant pays their share to the council through the household payments scheme so it is deducted from their social welfare payments, all maintenance is the responsibility of landlord and this usually includes windows breaking as long as it is not a common occurrence.

How could any landlord not be happy with guaranteed rental payments?