Rent allowance - Couple with Child in Shared Accomodation

share_bear

HI,

I have rooms in my house for rent, and I a keep encountering couples with a child on Rent Allowance who cannot find anywhere to live.

In my county, the max rate for a couples in shared accomodation is Euro 260.
It then lists a couple with 1 child as Euro 550 - but the absence of the word shared suggests this is where they are renting an entire property only. The concept of being in a house share with a child doesn't seem to compute.

Grateful if anyone here can advise whether an amount greater than 260 is available to couple with child in a house share? Also, what if two such families were receiving RA for the same address?

Thanks

The_Morrigan

There are rules to receive RA, one of which is that the property must be suitable.
I wouldn't consider two families sharing a 3 bed house as suitable.

share_bear

The_Morrigan wrote: »

There are rules to receive RA, one of which is that the property must be suitable.
I wouldn't consider two families sharing a 3 bed house as suitable.

What about Couple with child sharing with one other person in a LARGE 3-bed semi?
What would bw the applicable Rent Allowance rate?

The_Morrigan

share_bear wrote: »

What about Couple with child sharing with one other person in a LARGE 3-bed semi?
What would bw the applicable Rent Allowance rate?

Haven't a clue.
The rent a room scheme is not usually one for RA tenants or families renting either as it's not a tenancy. They would have to apply and see what happens as you don't automatically qualify.

The_Conductor

Share bear- a family would loose their rent allowance- in a situation such as you are describing- as the property would be deemed not suitable for them. If they were to rent the entire property- fine. If not- its not suitable. It doesn't matter what size the property is- its the fact that a family would be sharing their accommodation with strangers. This is not acceptable where young children are concerned.

If you are in a position to rent out the entire property to them- within the RA limits- fine. If you are proposing to somehow split up the property so there are other people staying there too- not fine.

Its actually a lot more black and white than a lot of situations. It is not acceptable- there is no room for interpretation of the rules- the couple will *not* get rent allowance- if they go with your proposal, period.

MouseTail

That is an anomaly within the system then, I can think of instances where it would be suitable, an older person living alone in a large house for example, or 2 single parents sharing a house. I imagine it is to do with child protection, but it appears overly restrictive, particularly as there is a rental crisis.

The_Conductor

MouseTail wrote: »

That is an anomaly within the system then, I can think of instances where it would be suitable, an older person living alone in a large house for example, or 2 single parents sharing a house. I imagine it is to do with child protection, but it appears overly restrictive, particularly as there is a rental crisis.

If it were a family member- or someone not considered a 'stranger in law'- there would be a valid argument for it- however, random strangers- nope........ Of course its to do with child protection- and so it should be.

Carebear's suggestion- does not fly.

Mrs OBumble

The_Conductor wrote: »

Share bear- a family would loose their rent allowance- in a situation such as you are describing- as the property would be deemed not suitable for them. If they were to rent the entire property- fine. If not- its not suitable. It doesn't matter what size the property is- its the fact that a family would be sharing their accommodation with strangers. This is not acceptable where young children are concerned.

If you are in a position to rent out the entire property to them- within the RA limits- fine. If you are proposing to somehow split up the property so there are other people staying there too- not fine.

Its actually a lot more black and white than a lot of situations. It is not acceptable- there is no room for interpretation of the rules- the couple will *not* get rent allowance- if they go with your proposal, period.

Do you have a link to rules or guidelines from Welfare which say that? Or is it simply an interpretation based on old-fashioned ideas about what constitutes "family"?



It's not at all difficult to think of cases where it would be totally suitable, and in fact miles better for the children's welfare.

You say later that a relative would be ok. What about an old friend? What about a newer friend who's actually teaching parenting skills to inadequate parents?

How does it compare to the situation when a sole parent has a partner who's on benefit move in. They would quality for RA because the adults are sleeping in the same bed. But really, how can the partner who they've know for perhaps as little as a few weeks or months be more suitable than an old friend who they've known for years?

(And don't even get me started on how it compares to the situations endured by children unfortunate enough to be born in this country to people seeking asylum.)

Personally I believe that any case where a non-biological-relative shares a domestic situation with children or vulnerable adults should be state licensed. But that's quite an extreme view, not held by many people, and not enforced by law anywhere that I know of.

The_Morrigan

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

The limits and classifications are noted in that link. You only have shared accommodation options for single or couples.

The rest of your post imo is outside the remit of the forum.

Mrs OBumble

The_Morrigan wrote: »

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

The limits and classifications are noted in that link. You only have shared accommodation options for single or couples.

The rest of your post imo is outside the remit of the forum.

That'a a link from Citizen's Information, not from DSP (ie Welfare).

So it's a summary / interpretation of the situation, without all the extra paragraphs about more complex situations that will be in DSP's operational policy manuals, which will run into dozens if not hundreds of pages.

I would take a guess that for couples with children, suitability of shared accommodation and its eligibility for RA will be accessed on a case-by-case basis. And there are some cases when it would be deemed suitable.

In some parts of the country, there are families living in hotel-room emergency accommodation for longish periods, because there are no houses available. I'd say that this possibility may well be lead DSP inspectors to be a little more open minded than usual in their assessments, too.

The cap that is applied in cases where it is suitable is likely to be a little lower than the cap for couple-with-children in non-shared accommodation. How much lower, only DSP can say.

OP, the only way to really answer your question is for someone to apply and see what DSP say.

The_Morrigan

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

That'a a link from Citizen's Information, not from DSP (ie Welfare).

So it's a summary / interpretation of the situation, without all the extra paragraphs about more complex situations that will be in DSP's operational policy manuals, which will run into dozens if not hundreds of pages.

I would take a guess that for couples with children, suitability of shared accommodation and its eligibility for RA will be accessed on a case-by-case basis. And there are some cases when it would be deemed suitable.

In some parts of the country, there are families living in hotel-room emergency accommodation for longish periods, because there are no houses available. I'd say that this possibility may well be lead DSP inspectors to be a little more open minded than usual in their assessments, too.

The cap that is applied in cases where it is suitable is likely to be a little lower than the cap for couple-with-children in non-shared accommodation. How much lower, only DSP can say.

OP, the only way to really answer your question is for someone to apply and see what DSP say.

Fine - new link for ya. Information is the same - there is no option for shared accommodation if a child is part of the equation according to the DSP website.

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Maximum-Rent-Limits-by-County.aspx

foggy_lad

Afaik the house share option is only available to single people or couples who have one bedroom in a shared house and a single bedroom is not covered where there is a child as it is unsuitable.

Rent allowance will also not be paid where the owner lives in the house as it is only paid to tenants and not to licencees.

The_Conductor

We're going around in circles here- I am closing this thread.
OP- if you're not satisfied- take it up with the DSP- I am not willing to allow any further discussion here. No further threads on this please.