Is renting a room in an Affordable Housing apartment allowed by SDCC?

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dafmurray

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While I'm waiting for SDCC to process my query about this through their correspondence backlog, I'd be grateful for any info on whether or not the Affordable Housing rules allow a room in an apt to be rented. My understanding was that it was not allowed, but I want to be sure.

Thank you for any info you can provide.
 
Hi dafmurry
you can rent a room in your apartment, but you can not rent the apartment out
 
It may depend on whether you're buying it on a shared ownership basis. Councils are allowed to require you get written permission from them before you can rent out a room in a shared ownership property. DCC has this rule (as least on paper) but I don't know about SDCC.

If it's not shared ownership it should be no problem.
 
Renting a room in an Affordable Housing home is allowed, as long as it remains your primary residence.
 
Agree with Renter27. And you can earn up to 10k p/a without having to pay tax on your income.
 
Andy88 said:
Hi dafmurry
you can rent a room in your apartment, but you can not rent the apartment out
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dont know who told you that one, a neighbour of mine owns an affordable apt in Ringsend and he has never lived in it . thats DCC but. he has it about 3.5 years
 
donee said:
dont know who told you that one
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You must be joking. The whole point of affordable housing is to give you a home to live in, not an investment property. If someone reports your friend to DCC (and I hope they do) he will be liable to pay DCC the clawback since he should never have been able to buy the place at the discounted price to begin with.
 
donee said:
dont know who told you that one, a neighbour of mine owns an affordable apt in Ringsend and he has never lived in it . thats DCC but. he has it about 3.5 years
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While he may be doing this, it is against all the rules of the affordable housing scheme. The whole point is to help people purchase a home not an investment property!!
 
My tenant is going to be made redundant soon and may have to go on the dole, just wondering will it make any difference the fact that my apartment was bought under AH when he goes to apply for rent allowance?
 
discogirl said:
My tenant is going to be made redundant soon and may have to go on the dole, just wondering will it make any difference the fact that my apartment was bought under AH when he goes to apply for rent allowance?
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Is he renting the entire apartment (not just a room)? If so, and he spills the beans that the apartment is owned by someone who bought it on the AH scheme, it might make a difference for you.
 
Na Brooklyn he is just renting the spare room, it probably won't make a difference but just couldn't find any asnwers online
 
Seonewbie said:
While he may be doing this, it is against all the rules of the affordable housing scheme. The whole point is to help people purchase a home not an investment property!!
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Agreed. However, what if you have now outgrown your apartment and want to sell (maybe starting a family etc) and buy/rent somewhere bigger (you bought because you thought you may never be able to afford somewhere to live the way things were going, like many others now in -ve equity)?

By renting it out (assuming you can't sell, or can't sell without incurring a big loss) you're still only covering your mortgage (if you're lucky) so it could hardly be considered an 'investment property' - would the council be understanding to such a situation (maybe with an agreement that you are never allowed make/take a profit if you do sell in the future, for example)?

Is there anyone actually checking up on people in affordable homes/apts to see if they're living in them or renting them out?

Is there actually a penalty if you do rent and are 'caught'?
 
simon1 said:
Agreed. However, what if you have now outgrown your apartment and want to sell (maybe starting a family etc) and buy/rent somewhere bigger (you bought because you thought you may never be able to afford somewhere to live the way things were going, like many others now in -ve equity)?
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Arguably the scheme should have taken that into consideration, but it didn't and people knew that when they bought their property. Most people also knew we were in for a downturn so if you couldn't wait to see if prices would drop, or bought a place that was stupidly overpriced even at AH prices, I don't think you have much basis for complaint. It's a bit different for people who genuinely intended to make the home their long-term residence but then lost their jobs and couldn't find another.

As for the penalty for renting that's up to the councils. You're in breach of contract and presumably any of the ordinary remedies would apply (as well as if your mortgage is from the Council itself, your contract may allow them to repossess the property). Anecdotally the word is that DCC is turning a blind eye as long as the mortgage keeps being paid and the tenants aren't causing problems, while Fingal now officially allows it on a short-term basis. I have no idea about SDCC or any of the other councils.

I do think this is going to become a much bigger issue and needs to be addressed on a state-wide basis but so far the Minister is resisting.
 
renting out affordable dwelling

Has anyone got permission to rent out their property because they are having difficulty selling it and want to live elsewhere?
 
Society said:
Has anyone got permission to rent out their property because they are having difficulty selling it and want to live elsewhere?
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We got permission for one year, we gave them a bullsh1t story and they said yes. The truth is we are saving for a house now and have no intentions of moving bank to the apartment we have on affordable housing through SDCC.
 
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