S.W rent supplement

[suimhneach]

Im cuirrently working thank god, but i got the shock of my life yesterday, we are looking for a new house to rent long term and we were talking to a potential land lord who was very keen to know if we were on social welfare, i thought that this was because maybe he didnt want people in recipt of sw renting from him but it turns out its quiet the oppisite.

We are froma tiny rural area, and this man was telling me that if we were on the SW that he could charge up to 850 a month rental on this particular house. Since we were working that he would have to drop it a bit to around 600 which is still crazy expensive for this area.

So how much money are the government handing out in rental supplement who decides how much these houses are worth? does anyone actually come out and check on these houses?

Another thing twice in the past week i have heard of people that are getting this supplement not actually passing it on to the landlord, in other words not paying rent so why the heck is this money not paid directly to the landlords?

 

[gipimann]

There is a maximum rent limit set for different family sizes in each county, and some landlords have increased their rents to match the limit. The limits are set by the Dept of Social & Family Affairs. However as rents fall, the limits are also being reduced.

An entitlement to Rent Supplement is based on an application from the tenant, the HSE (who administer the scheme) are not in a contract with the landlord and there is no obligation to pay the supplement directly (though it can and does happen). It is a tenant's responsibility (whether working or not) to pay their rent.