2on2:They would not stop your welfare payments if you could not afford your mortgage. I think the information you might of come across is on no fixed abode or moving back to parents house. The second could affect your payment if they are means tested.
Once your house is in the process of voluntary surrender process you can apply to have your housing needs assessed (rent allowance etc)
Quote from section 6 from Housing.ie Housing needs assessment guidance notes revised
One of the basic elements in assessing whether to give social housing support to a household is to establish whether
that household has a need for that support. The principal way in which a housing authority determines whether there
is a need for support is to assess the household’s current accommodation and household circumstances. Regulation
23 sets out the specific matters which a housing authority takes into account in making a determination as to the
suitability of the household’s current accommodation, as follows:
1. if the accommodation the household currently occupies is an institution, emergency accommodation, a
hostel etc, or the household has no accommodation (i.e. sleeping rough);
2. whether the household is currently living in overcrowded conditions;
3. whether the accommodation is unfit for human habitation;
4. whether the accommodation is unsuitable for reasons of a physical, sensory, mental health and/or
intellectual disability within the household;
5. whether there are serious medical or compassionate reasons as to why the accommodation is
unsuitable;
6. where there are shared households and the applicant household has, in the opinion of the housing
authority, a reasonable requirement for separate accommodation; and
7. other grounds where the accommodation is materially unsuitable or there are compelling medical or
compassionate grounds.
If the applicant, or any member of the applicant’s household is living in their current accommodation for a period of
less than 3 months, the authority should request details of other previous accommodation(s) occupied by members of
the household. This is important as the local authority must satisfy itself that there is an accommodation need and
that there is no alternative accommodation currently available to the household that is suitable to their needs.
In cases where the household states that it is being forced to leave their current accommodation, a housing authority
may bypass an inspection of the existing accommodation where there is certain documentary evidence to support
the applicant’s claims, such as:
• copies of court orders for eviction;
• notices to quit;
26
• institutional discharge orders, etc.
In circumstances where the household is being evicted or has received a notice to quit their current accommodation,
it is important that the housing authority investigate the reasons for the eviction order/notice to quit in order that the
authority can take appropriate action at allocation stage in the context of their wider estate management role under
section 14 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997.
In cases where the applicant claims that it is no longer possible to live in the family home, the decision of eligibly for
the authority rests on whether it is reasonable for the applicant to seek to obtain social housing support to secure
alternative accommodation. In accordance with Regulation 23, authorities should take into account whether:
• the family home is overcrowded or unfit for human habitation;
• whether their current accommodation is appropriate to meeting any special housing need;
• there is a concern as regards violence or abuse happening in the family home;
• there is a requirement for the applicant to live elsewhere for full-time education/employment reasons;
• there is a requirement for the applicant to live in a different location for reasons of facilitating access to
children by way of a formal custody agreement.
The housing authority will require documentary support to confirm the circumstances where a person if seeking to
move from (or cannot return to) the family home, e.g. documentary support from a social worker or a member of An
Garda Síochána.
Housing authorities may, in special circumstances, allow that, while the current accommodation is suitable to meet
the needs of the applicant, at present, it is reasonable to assume that this will not be so in the future. This allows
housing authorities a certain level of discretion, on a case by case basis, to allow that a person in currently adequate
accommodation could be assessed as having a housing need if there is a high probability that there will be a housing
need in the near future which, if not addressed, could put the applicant at risk of homelessness. One example of this
would be where a person with an intellectual disability is residing with elderly parents and, while their accommodation
is suitable at present, it will not remain so should the parents die or become unable to care for the person with the
disability. In this case, a housing authority could undertake a housing assessment on the basis that the applicant’s
current accommodation is not suitable to meet their housing need.
Another example would be where a private homeowner has unsustainable mortgage arrears such that the
accommodation is in the process of being repossessed and the homeowner is unable to afford rental accommodation
in the private sector and seeks to access the range of social housing supports. In these circumstances the following
27
procedure should be followed. Where a borrower and lender have agreed to a voluntary repossession (after
pursuing any reasonable forbearance measures) the lender should complete a statement setting out the forbearance
measures that have been explored to sustain the mortgage and the borrower in their home and confirming that,
despite these measures, the mortgage is not sustainable and a voluntary repossession has been agreed. Upon
receipt of the statement and confirmation in writing, a housing authority may proceed to assess the household’s
eligibility for, and need of, social housing support, following the completion by the borrower of the required application
form and the provision of the required documentation. This assessment should take place in accordance with section
20 of the 2009 Act and the Social Housing Assessment Regulation. Housing Finance and Policy Development
Section of the Department will be issuing further guidance on the treatment of such cases in the near future.
In relation to the matters set out above which authorities must consider in making an assessment of ‘need’,
consideration should be had to the following legislation and guidance.