Rent supplement/housing question

artvanderlay

Hi there,

My wife has a mental illness, gets DA and I get half-rate carers for helping with her care. We are in a bit of bother at the moment - we cannot afford to rent in Dublin with the limited income we have...my wife's doctors and psych team are all based in Dublin and we really need to be living there, as she also has friends and a couple of volunteer roles there that really help keep her well. Our problem is that we were renting a nice, but very small place, in Dublin at a reasonable rate up until recently but couldn't extend when our lease expired. Since then we have been stuck in the west of ireland with my family which is not good for either of us, especially my wife. I don't drive and neither of us like living there so far from where we built our lives in Dublin. I notice that the rent supplement rate for Dublin is 900 for a couple...now obviously that is not enough to get a decent place but I wonder if i got a place for say 1,400, would i be able to get the 900 towards this (minus our contribution), given that my wife has a serious medical condition that is helped by living in Dublin? I also would like to be there as there are internships/job training schemes there that I would like to do.

Also, I don't have a clue about social housing - i never thought I'd need it to be honest - but my wife has had many relapses that have left us in a really bad way and I now want to pull the finger out and get a bit more organised for us. Where do I start with social housing?

Thanks for any advice. Much appreciated.

Gatling

The maximum rent supplement you would be entitled to would be €740 which you wouldn't be able to top up to make up €1400 pm ,
As it stands most landlords in Dublin won't take rent supplement as it is,
You could look in to the HAP scheme too
You can apply to your local authority for house with a medical priority but you will have to apply to your local county council ,
If your living out west you can't apply for housing in Dublin and vice versa .
First thing id be doing is getting all help you can for your wife where your based first and foremost and I'd be talking to a social worker to see if they can help too ,

artvanderlay

Thanks a lot @ gatling. Great advice...I'll get on it.

Head Wreck

Many thousands of people live outside of Dublin with mental illness, and many ill people who need care in general. I'm sure ye have or can get a travel past so leaving Dublin could be a good idea. You could get a 4 bed house for the price of a single bedsit in Dublin