Rent allowance limits.

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If my tenant is on social welfare and they pay me rent and I pay one of their utilities does this affect their entitlement to rent allowance? In this case the rent is below the county/town limit of 108 Euro.
 
The only rent eligible for Rent Supplement is that which is for accommodation only.

The Rent Supplement application form asks for the amount of rent paid, exclusive of heating/lighting or other costs.

Presumably an amount is included in the tenant's rent to cover the cost of the utility which you're paying?
 
Thanks Gipimann, these things are coming more to the fore now as tenant's are looking for rent allowance due to losing jobs and I want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly.

I actually have two different cases, one the tenant pays me say 100 Euro rent and I pay the heat, but we always just said it was 100 Euro rent and the heating was included.

Another case the rent is say 100 and they pay 20 for the gas bill and bin tags (gas bill is higher than the 20 but tenant doesn't know this)

I have to know the rules because tenant's expect us landlords to explain the rules on social welfare to them (that's our experience anyway).

When you mention utilities, what about rates (annual bill from corporation for water/bins) which I pay for all my tenancies. Is it just utilities like light and heat.
Also I have the case of a communal hall and I pay the bill and never have I considered it part of the rent. Never even thought of it before now.
 
The legislation doesn't specify exactly what's meant by utilities, just that rent supplement is based on the amount of rent paid for accommodation only. It could be said that refuse charges might be similar to heat/light as the amount paid depends on usage.

There could be arguments for & against inclusion of the service charge (for the communal area) in the rent as it's not strictly separate to the accommodation cost.
 
Ok I get that it's a grey area. I'll explain it to tenant's and they will have to discuss with their social welfare officer etc.

You welfare guys are great. Thanks again.
 
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