RAS scheme with Meath Co. Council

Luckysasha

I have a three bed semi in an estate in Navan currently rented out with.a letting agent. I'm toying with the idea of signing up to the RAS scheme with Meath Co Council. I have read reviews both good and bad about the scheme. Just wondering if anyone has any experience in dealing with Meath Co. Council and their RAS scheme

foggy_lad

Luckysasha wrote: »

I have a three bed semi in an estate in Navan currently rented out with.a letting agent. I'm toying with the idea of signing up to the RAS scheme with Meath Co Council. I have read reviews both good and bad about the scheme. Just wondering if anyone has any experience in dealing with Meath Co. Council and their RAS scheme

You can ring the county council and arrange to have a chat with one of the people dealing with the RAS houses.

Basically you are still a private landlord with a private tenant but the tenant is vetted by the council and your rent is guaranteed all year round but will be lower than current market rates.

You still have to maintain the property and things like broken windows etc will be your responsibility as long as it is accidental. The council guarantees the lease but you must also do your job as landlord which means if tenant stops paying their portion of rentmto the council the council instruct you to send an arrears notice then eviction notice etc

The council are not really a party to the lease but are more like payment facilitators. They are not responsible for any repairs but will pay rent even if the house is empty for a while between tenants.

phildin

Landlord here, the scheme has worked very well for me over the past 4 years. Of course at this point, they're paying below market rate but not massively so and it was great to have the guaranteed income over the period. You're not obliged to accept any tenant they nominate but they'll stop paying if you start turning them away (reasonable enough). One glitch is that you will need to have public liability insurance up to (I think) €2.5m which is higher than a lot of standard landlord policies. Quite a few insurers were not prepared to provide insurance to RAS properties and I ended up paying through the nose on the first year but got a decent quote subsequently from Allianz.

Fiona

I have had my 1 bed apt in Ashbourne rented out with them the last 5/6 years and no issues, brilliant tenants.

Never had to get the pli insurance though must be a new thing they have brought in, recently got a rent increase of €200 which was very much welcome and long overdue too.

Luckysasha

Thanks for the info. What did you have to do as regards tax liability etc. Did it effect your mortgage in anyway ? Did you have anything else to do to get set up on this scheme

Fiona

Luckysasha wrote: »

Thanks for the info. What did you have to do as regards tax liability etc. Did it effect your mortgage in anyway ? Did you have anything else to do to get set up on this scheme

You need to become self assessd for tax and submit a form 12 every year to the revenue. I didn't change my mortgage just stopped claiming my trs from the government.

You also need to register the tenancy with the PRTB.

Bear in mind though the tax bills for this can be quite hefty if you are also a paye worker, my tax return for 2014 was €1200 and I didn't make a penny out of the apartment and put in nearly €2,200 of my own money between mgt fees, insurance and shortfall in the mortgage so it can actually end up costing you a fortune that's why I got off the scheme and am now back living in my property.

delthedriver

Avoid! Ras schemes usually involve a minimum contract of 3/5/10 years.


Council will offload any tenant , vetting is not really their concern.


In the current market a landlord is in a better position to attract suitable tenants, higher rent.


Try advertising your property on Daft.ie😊

Fiona

delthedriver wrote: »

Avoid! Ras schemes usually involve a minimum contract of 3/5/10 years.


Council will offload any tenant , vetting is not really their concern.


In the current market a landlord is in a better position to attract suitable tenants, higher rent.


Try advertising your property on Daft.ie😊

They have tenancy by tenancy agreements as well as long term solutions.

Had my place rented out for 6 years with two of the most exemplary tenants one can ask for, I have heard of people in the private sector renting to what can only be described as animals so not all social welfare tenants are the same.

But yes renting privately you can command a higher rent but for me that wasn't an option as was trying to keep my tax bills to a minimum.

murphaph

Fiona wrote: »

You need to become self assessd for tax and submit a form 12 every year to the revenue. I didn't change my mortgage just stopped claiming my trs from the government.

Form 12 is exclusively for PAYE workers, which not everyone is obviously. For everone else it's a Form 11.

delthedriver

Fiona wrote: »

You need to become self assessd for tax and submit a form 12 every year to the revenue. I didn't change my mortgage just stopped claiming my trs from the government.

You also need to register the tenancy with the PRTB.

Bear in mind though the tax bills for this can be quite hefty if you are also a paye worker, my tax return for 2014 was €1200 and I didn't make a penny out of the apartment and put in nearly €2,200 of my own money between mgt fees, insurance and shortfall in the mortgage so it can actually end up costing you a fortune that's why I got off the scheme and am now back living in my property.

Mgmt fees and insurance are expenses ,allowable against Rental Income ????????

Fiona

delthedriver wrote: »

Mgmt fees and insurance are expenses ,allowable against Rental Income ????????

Yup but still am left with a hefty tax bill I am afraid.