What's HAP pending here?

Is there a HAP limit for your area?

spoke2cun wrote: »

Landlord is asking for €850/month rent. HAP is calculated at €520/month. This in my view leaves €330 to make up the difference but its been calculated that its €590 for me to pay monthly! What am I missing here folks?

Calculated by whom, and who are you being asked to pay that amount to? Under HAP you must pay a weekly contribution amount to the local council (which will always be less than the amount HAP covers for your rent, of course).

In addition, if your monthly HAP payment doesn't cover your entire rent payment, you must pay the difference directly to the landlord. So in this case, you should only be paying your landlord €330 a month going forward, and HAP will cover the rest of the €850/month rent. If your rent is €850, your HAP payment from the council to your landlord is €520, and the landlord is asking you to pay more than €330 directly to them every month, they are either mistaken or they are trying to cheat you.

It is possible that the total of your council payment and your "top-up" payment to the landlord could come out to €590 per month.

It's also possible that the payment in question is an advance of your first month's rent (or the rent for the first month you are on HAP, if you're starting HAP on an existing tenancy), possibly prorated. HAP pays landlords in arrears, meaning that on the last Wednesday of each month they'll pay the landlord the rent for that month that is now ending shortly. However, most tenancy agreements in Ireland require payment in advance, e.g. you pay on the first of the month (or whatever your rent due date is) the rent for the next calendar month. As such, when you start on HAP, you as the tenant must pay any rent arrears that are caused by HAP paying in arrears on the last Wednesday instead of in advance on your tenancy agreement's due date. This arrears must only be paid once, however; after that you are effectively "caught up" with the rent and the council's HAP payment (plus your own top-up) paid at the end of each month will go towards the next month's rent instead. If your landlord is asking you to pay €560 to him for your initial month on HAP only, that might be correct; you'd have to double-check the numbers based on your own rent due date. If he is asking you to pay that amount every month, that doesn't seem correct, however.