Rent Supplement

Information

Rent Supplement is paid to people living in private rented accommodation who cannot provide for the cost of their accommodation from their own resources. In general, you will qualify for a rent supplement, if your only income is a social welfare or Health Services Executive (HSE) payment and you satisfy the other conditions - see 'Rules' below.

The amount of rent supplement will be calculated by the HSE's Community Welfare Officer and will generally ensure that your income after paying rent does not fall below a minimum level.

Rules

Getting Rent Supplement

You may be eligible for Rent Supplement if the accommodation is suitable for your needs, the rent is below the maximum rent level set for your county and you are:

• Assessed in the last 12 months by a local authority as being eligible for and in need of social housing or
• Living in accommodation for homeless people for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months or
• Living in private rented accommodation for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months or
• A tenant of accommodation provided under one of the Social Housing Schemes

and

• Pass a habitual residence test
• Pass a means test.

If you don't fit into one of the categories above and want Rent Supplement, you must go to the local authority to have your housing need assessed. You must go to the local authority in the same area that you intend to live and claim Rent Supplement. Only when you are assessed as eligible for and in need of housing by your local authority can you apply for Rent Supplement. Rent Supplement is not payable while a local authority is carrying out a housing needs assessment.  

You won’t qualify for Rent Supplement if you:

• Are in full-time employment. However, if you are assessed as in need of housing under the Rental Accommodation Scheme and have been out of full-time employment for 12 months or more you may be entitled to the Supplement -see ‘Employment and Rent Supplement’ below
• Have refused a second offer of local authority accommodation in an 12-month period. In this case, you will not be eligible to claim Rent Supplement for 12 months 
• Are leaving local authority housing without reasonable cause
• Are attending full-time education. However, if you are getting a Back to Education Allowance or participating in the Back to Education Programme you may be entitled to the Supplement.

Employment and Rent Supplement

You will not qualify for Rent Supplement if you are in full-time employment. That is, employment for 30 hours per week or more. (In the case of couples, if one of a couple is in full time employment both are excluded from claiming Rent Supplement).

Since June 2007, if you are accepted as being in need of accommodation under the Rental Accommodation Scheme by your local housing authority and you have been unemployed or not in full-time employment for at least 12 months before you start work you may be entitled to retain Rent Supplement. You may also be entitled to retain Rent Supplement if you have been participating in a Community Employment Scheme, Area Allowance Enterprise Scheme, or getting Back to Work Allowance immediately before you start work.

However, you will be reassessed for Rent Supplement and some of your additional income including some of your income from employment will be taken into account. As a result of the reassessment you may or may not continue to qualify for Rent Supplement.  If you do qualify for Rent Supplement you may get a different rate of supplement.

Income taken into account for Rent Supplement

• Net Income from employment (this is gross income less PRSI and reasonable travel expenses. Children aged 17 and under in full-time education will not have their income from employment assessed as means for Rent Supplement.) 
• Social welfare payments (for exceptions - see 'Income not taken into account' below)  
• HSE payments (for exceptions - see 'Income not taken into account' below)
• Family Income Supplement
• Cash Income (for example, maintenance)
• All income and the value of all property of which the claimant deprived himself/herself in order to qualify for SWA
• Capital (for example, property except your own home, savings and investments). 

The capital value of property (except your own home), savings and investments will be assessed on a weekly basis as follows:

Income not taken into account when calculating Rent Supplement

Since June 2007, income from the following sources is disregarded or not taken in account by the Community Welfare Officer (CWO) when calculating the amount of Rent Supplement you will get: 

• Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) rate for your household circumstances
• Child Benefit
• Mobility Allowance 
• Foster care payments from the Health Service Executive
• Payments for accommodating children under the Child Care Act
• Income from Gaeltacht students 
• Grants or allowances from schemes promoting the welfare of blind people
• Money received from charitable organisations, for example, St Vincent de Paul
• Compensation awarded by the Compensation Tribunal in respect of Hepatitis C contracted from certain blood products, to those who have disabilities caused by Thalidomide and to those receiving compensation under the Residential Institutions Redress Board
• Maintenance grants paid by VEC or Local Authorities for educational purposes 
• Domiciliary Care Allowance 
• Income from employment with the HSE as a Home Help
• If you are aged 65 or over (or where one of a couple is of pensionable age) and have a combined household income greater than the rate of SWA appropriate to your household circumstances, you are allowed a disregard equal to the difference between the maximum rate of State Pension (Contributory) appropriate to your circumstance and the rate of SWA appropriate to your circumstances
• The new half-rate Carer's Allowance
• If you are getting the standard Carer's Allowance payment for caring for two people, the amount of Carer's Allowance above the appropirate SWA rate for your situation (either the adult dependent rate or the personal rate of SWA) is not taken into account.  
• Any amount of Carer's Benefit in excess of the basic SWA rate for your situation (either the adult dependent rate or the personal rate of SWA) is not taken into account.
• Respite Care Grant
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory) and Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Rehabilitative earnings disregard is a certain amount of your income from rehabilitative work which is not taken into account. If you are in receipt of Disability Allowance or Blind Pension, €120 from rehabilitative training or employment is not taken into account in the assessment for Rent Supplement. Any earnings over €120 from rehabilitative training or employment will affect your Rent Supplement. If you are earning above €120 you can be assessed using either under rehabilitative earnings disregard or the household income disregard (but not both) whichever is in your interest
• Household income disregard is a certain amount of your household income which is not taken into account. €75 of any additional household income is not taken into account. Also, 25% of additional household income over €75 is not taken into account. There is no upper limit on the amount that can be disregarded.

Additional household income is any income from employment, maintenance payments in excess of €95.23, Family Income Supplement, Community Employment (CE), Back to Work Allowance, Back to Enterprise Allowance or FÁS course.

If you were getting Rent Supplement before 5 June 2007, you can continue to have your income assessed using the old income disregards, unless, the current income disregards ensure a more favourable assessment. However, if you do not claim Rent Supplement for more than 13 weeks you will be assessed using the current income disregards. (Further information is available on how income was assessed for Rent Supplement before 5 June 2007.)

Maintenance and Rent Supplement

Maintenance is assessed as additional household income (see above) and the household income disregard is used to find out how much of your maintenance is taken into account as means.

For example, if your only additional income is maintenance, all of your maintenance payment up to €95.23 per week is assessed in full. The next €75, which is any maintenance between €95.23 and €170.23, is not taken into account. 25% of all maintenance over €170.23 is also not taken into account.

Your contribution to rent (Household Contribution)

When the Community Welfare Officer calculates your of level Rent Supplement they will reduce it by €24, this is because you must pay at least €24 towards your rent. You may pay more than €24 because you are also required to contribute any additional assessable means that you have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards your rent.  

A couple over 65 with an income equal or less than the State Pension (Contributory) for their situation will only contribute €24 towards their rent. A couple who both have State Pensions (Contributory) and no other income will also only contribute €24 towards their rent.

Calculating Rent Supplement

Calculating your Rent Supplement can be difficult. The Community Welfare Officer in your local health centre will decide if you are eligible for Rent Supplement and calculate the amount you will get. More information is available on how to calculate Rent Supplement.

Appealing a decision made by the Community Welfare Officer (CWO)

If you are not satisfied with a decision made in relation to Rent Supplement, you should first find out why the decision was made by asking the Community Welfare Officer. If you have any extra documentation to back up your case, give this to the Community Welfare Officer.

If you are still unhappy, you have the choice of discussing this decision with the Superintendent Community Welfare Officer. They can change the decision if your case deserves it.

If the decision is not changed, then request an appeal form. Include as much detail as possible in your appeal and keep photocopies of everything.

If your appeal is unsuccessful, you are entitled to have the appeal referred to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. You may request a personal hearing and you can bring along a representative to help argue your case.

Rates

Rent Supplement is paid to you weekly or monthly by cheque, Electronic Fund Transfer or post draft, usually in arrears. 

The amount of Rent Supplement will be calculated by the HSE's Community Welfare Officer (CWO) and will generally ensure that your income, after paying rent, does not fall below a minimum level. This level is the basic Supplementary Welfare Allowance rate for your circumstances minus €24. You must always pay at least €24 towards your rent.  However, you may pay more depending on your means - see 'Rules' above.

The rent paid to your landlord (that is, your contribution plus your Rent Supplement) must not be above the maximum rent level set for your county or area. The maximum rent level for your county is set by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. However, the Health Service Executive (HSE) may set lower rates within these limits. The HSE sets a maximum rent level for each area. If your actual rent is higher than the local maximum, you may be refused Rent Supplement entirely. 

Maximum rent levels for each county

From 1 June 2009, these are the maximum rent levels, (the HSE can set levels below these for specific areas within each county):

SI 221/07 sets down the maximum amounts of Rent Supplement payable is €55 for a single person and €60 for couples who are tenants in voluntary housing developments (funded through the Capital Assistance Scheme).

How to apply

To apply, fill in an application form for Rent Supplement (pdf). Part of the form will need to be filled in by your landlord or their agent. Another part of the form may need to be filled in by your local authority, to confirm you are on their housing list and have a housing need, that is, if you are not exempt from this rule.

You will also need to fill in a separate Supplementary Welfare Allowance application form (pdf), this form is used to gather additional details relevant to your application for Rent Supplement. The Community Welfare Officer (CWO) or local Citizens Information Service can help you fill in these forms.

You will also need to bring the following documents:

• Identity documents for you and your dependents, such as, full Birth Certificates, passports, driving license, work permit, immigration (GNIB) card, etc.
• Documents to show your income and financial situation, such as, pay slips, P45, P35, P60, bank statements, etc.
• Documents to prove where you live, such as, electricity, gas or phone bills, etc.
• Documents relating to your tenancy, such as, your rent book, lease or tenancy agreement.

The CWO will usually visit you to confirm your circumstances.

Where to apply