Is rent allowance being abused?

L

Liamb

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As a person who has been looking for a one bed property to rent under the max rent allowance of €520 in my area for a single person I am finding it impossible to find such a property (I can not just get a bedroom in a house share because of a medical condition). The welfare officer says that they have lots of people in my area who have found property for €520 now I have been to all the local agents and searched property websites and can not find any. It seems to me that fraud me be going on here as it was suggested to me that the agent/landlord will set up an an agreement to meet the rent allowance criteria and set up another agreement showing the true rental of a property in which you pay the balance of the rental price.​
 
Well call me naive but I can't see that its fraud.
The tenant is only getting what they are due, no more.
The social welfare won't pay a market rate.
So what are the tenant's choice's?

You as an individual can't take on the social welfare system.
It is the system putting you in an untenable position.

I have a sister on rent allowance. She has a serious mental illness and had to become one of my tenants as there was no other option.

I charge her the max rent allowance rate.
The social welfare came to check on the property and were amazed at the quality.
But it is me the landlady, losing out not the social welfare or tenant.
I'm down €200 per month compared to another tenant.
But the local SW office have the benefit of believing that she got a decent accommodation on rent allowance...no freaking way,
 
I would be very surprised that welfare officer would not be aware of rental values in his/her are so are they in fact turning a blind eye to this practice.
 
Can you not back the rent allowance?

€520 a month seems good on top of the €800 social welfare payment.
 
System is definitley abused.
Tenants on rent allowance will pay what is known as a "top up" - an additional amount of rent each week which makes up the balance of the market rent and what the SW will give.
 
Cayne said:
Can you not back the rent allowance?

€520 a month seems good on top of the €800 social welfare payment.
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What do you mean by "Can you back the rent allowance.
I have worked out a budget and out of my €800 sw payment I would be well able to pay €150-€200 a month to top up the €520 but when I suggested this to the welfare officer she said this was not acceptable and if I tried to do so they woud not give me any rent allowance as they see the SW payment of €204 per week as the minimum amount a person can live on. This is something I do not agree with.
 
Sorry didnt realise you were not permitted to back the rent allowance with the SW payment. What part of the country are you in - I know here in Galway you wouldnt get much for €520 a month.
 
I am in the Kildare area and the lowest rents for a one bed is approx €750-€800 per month
 
You re obviously not checking daft!

Do a search on daft with max rent 500 for one bedroom or bedsit. Over 20 results.
 
Just did a search of daft for rent allowance accepted 1 bed apartmet got one result at €600. I must also state here that I have to be in a town with good transport links as I am unable to drive due to medical reasons
 
Liamb said:
I have worked out a budget and out of my €800 sw payment I would be well able to pay €150-€200 a month to top up the €520 but when I suggested this to the welfare officer she said this was not acceptable and if I tried to do so they woud not give me any rent allowance as they see the SW payment of €204 per week as the minimum amount a person can live on. This is something I do not agree with.
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And what does the welfare officer say when you tell them there is nowhere available to rent within the means of the rent allowance?
 
The welfare officer said we have lots of people who found property for this amount and when I asked can she advise were to find thes properties she stated that is not her job to do so.
 
Liamb said:
The welfare officer said we have lots of people who found property for this amount and when I asked can she advise were to find thes properties she stated that is not her job to do so.
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Can you raise this issue with a local politician?

Is the 520 the absolute max they can give you or can you negotiate for more?

Can your GP help (would your medical condition warrant more assistance from SW?).

Practically speaking, could you do a house share if you found somewhere where the other person wasnt there much, or who worked a night shift and slept daytimes so didnt get in your way?

Sorry I dont have much in the line of proper information, just trying to think outside the box for you.
 
Yes €520 is th max and out of that I have to pay a minimum of €23 so I fact what you actual get is €497.00 per month
 
Liamb said:
Yes €520 is th max and out of that I have to pay a minimum of €23 so I fact what you actual get is €497.00 per month
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While I understand your personal needs €500 a month for your accomodation from the state is very generous on top of your sw payments. Correct me if im wrong and apologies in advance but it looks to me your nearly upset the state wont allocate more for your accomodation.
 
Cayne said:
While I understand your personal needs €500 a month for your accomodation from the state is very generous on top of your sw payments. Correct me if im wrong and apologies in advance but it looks to me your nearly upset the state wont allocate more for your accomodation.
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I think the OPs issue is not what is generous or not but the fact that he cannot find actually accomodation within that range.
 
Cayne said:
Correct me if im wrong and apologies in advance but it looks to me your nearly upset the state wont allocate more for your accomodation.
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I dont under stand what you mean
Well the news for me goes from bad to worse I just received a phone call saying I have been not been offered the job i intervied for.
Very depressed at this stage I think its the end of the road for me and its time end it all nothing left to live for at this stage.
 
Liamb said:
I dont under stand what you mean
Well the news for me goes from bad to worse I just received a phone call saying I have been not been offered the job i intervied for.
Very depressed at this stage I think its the end of the road for me and its time end it all nothing left to live for at this stage.
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Not at all - this is just a blip, there will be more interviews and in the meantime we just need to think of a practical solution to your housing problem.

On the house share issue - are there any circumstances under which you could share?
 
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