Can my friend claim rent allowance under the rent a room scheme?He has been living with me since december and is out of work,he has been living rent free up until now.
As mentioned previously - he can only get rent allowance if he is paying rent. Also, if he is going to claim rent allowance against your property you need to make sure your registered for the rent a room scheme. Also make sure that you are paying the extra taxes if you rent your room out over a specific amount, otherwise the tax man will be after you !
I was thinking of charging 90 a week so that does not come close to the 10 grand I am entitled to.The thing is I dont know can he claim rent allowance or is the rent a room scheme only for people that are working?
The rent a room scheme is for anyone who is renting a property ( but who does not own a property) except for those already in receipt of rent allowance through the social welfare system. It does not matter if you are working or not !
Yes I think you are confused. The rent a room is tax relief for home owners who rent out a room in their home. Rent allowance can be applied for by someone on social welfare and is means tested I think.
You can claim rent relief from the revenue on any premises that you are renting, once you are not a home owner. This is done once a year via the revenue site.
If you are on the social welfare, you can contact your local social welfare office and ask them to help you with rent relief. They normally give you alot more than what you get from the revenue but they are separate things. The rent relief from the social is means tested and you need to be on the labour. As far as I am aware alot of unmarried mothers get this for houses that they rent from landlords. They qualify because they have dependant children. Single people would find it more difficult to get rent relief because they have no dependant children and should be able to go back to the family home.
He went to the local social welfare officer today and he told him he needed a rent book and a tenancy agreement,also a bill with his name on it?? He doesnt have one of these items so where to next??He explained he is living in my house and only wants rent allowance for renting a room.
If he is staying with you and is genuinely paying rent then you can do the following:
- few euro for rent book in Easons or the like
- download tenancy agreement from net, standard enough document
- switch one of your bills into his name, temp arrangement, eg. tv service