FG to hike rate of rent allowance
STRUGGLING families are to benefit from increases in their rent supplement, under new Government plans.
The plans being brought forward by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar and Housing Minister Simon Coveney are expected to be signed off on this morning. The hikes are expected to come into effect next month.
PLANS to increase rent supplements are being brought before the Cabinet this morning, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
The Government is expected to this morning sign off on the plans which are being introduced in a bid to help struggling families with soaring rents.
Both rent supplement and housing assistance payments (HAP) will be increased in both rural and urban areas.
The memo is being brought to Cabinet by Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar and the Housing Minister Simon Coveney.
The new limits would mean that people who cannot afford the full cost of private rented accommodation would receive greater assistance from the State from as early as next month.
Every county in Ireland has a maximum rent limit, within which rent supplement can be paid.
This new measure would mean that maximum rent limits would increase in every part of Ireland, with the individual increase reflecting the pressures on rental properties in each particular local authority area. It is expected there will be significant increases in rural and in both urban areas reflecting local pressures.
Furthermore, anyone who has entered an informal top-up arrangement with their landlord will be advised to contact their Community Welfare Service for assistance, as the Department will ‘regularise’ these top-ups.
This measure would cost up to €15million in 2016, representing €12million under the rent supplement scheme and €3million under the HAP scheme.