Mr Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, today (2 December 2016), announced that the Government has delivered on another key action under Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme became operational on a statutory basis today in a further nine local authority areas, these are Cavan, Kerry, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow. This means that eligible households in 28 local authority areas can now apply and, if deemed eligible, avail of another form of social housing support.
The introduction of HAP means that local authorities can now provide housing assistance to many more households with a long-term housing need, including many long-term Rent Supplement recipients, as well as households who may not be eligible for Rent Supplement but who are struggling with the cost of rent. As well as removing a barrier to employment, by allowing recipients to remain in the scheme if they gain full-time employment, the HAP scheme improves regulation of the rented accommodation being supported and it provides certainty for landlords as regards their rental income.
Minister Simon Coveney welcomed the extension of the HAP scheme to these local authority areas and added that “the completion of this particular phase of the rollout of HAP demonstrates this Government’s commitment in helping to ensure that everyone can access a home, either on their own, or with State support.”
The Minister acknowledged that “while the level of supply in the rental market is challenging, HAP continues to offer many families stable and supported social housing. The increases in July 2016 to the maximum rent limits underpinning the HAP scheme, together with the additional flexibility provided to local authorities in operating the scheme locally, means that HAP can and will continue to offer families on-going support and access to good quality housing in communities of their choice.”
There are currently more than 15,500 households receiving HAP support; over a third of these households have transferred from the Rent Supplement scheme. More than 10,000 landlords are taking part in the scheme with approximately 300 households joining the scheme every week.
The full roll-out of the scheme will be completed by 1 March 2017, with the introduction of HAP to the administrative areas of Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal County Council.
ENDS
Editor's notes
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. HAP will provide a more integrated system of housing supports; the scheme aims to allow all social housing supports to be accessed through the local authority and to allow recipients to take up full-time employment and still keep their housing support.
Under HAP, local authorities will make payments, subject to rent limits and certain conditions, on behalf of the HAP recipient directly to the landlord in respect of rent. The HAP recipient will then pay a rent contribution to the local authority. The rent contribution is a differential rent – that is, a rent set by the local authority based on income and the ability to pay.
The Programme for a Partnership Government and Rebuilding Ireland made the following commitments in relation to the future operation of HAP:
· Increasing Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) (and Rent Supplement limits) and extending the capacity to make discretionary enhanced payments
Update: The HAP rent limits were increased in July 2016 and have had the effect of providing further targeted supports to those households in most need; providing prospective HAP recipients with access to a greater number of properties in the market; and reducing the number of households falling into homelessness. More than 2,500 pre-existing HAP households have received an increase in their level of support since the introduction of the new rent limits in line with costed projections. All local authorities where HAP is operational can now exceed the prescribed rent limits (by up to 20%), on a case by case basis subject to guidelines.
· Extending the roll out by local authorities of HAP
Update: HAP is being introduced on a statutory phased basis and the scheme is, from 1 December 2016, available in the following additional local authority areas: Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.
The Homeless Pilot of the HAP scheme has been operational since February 2015 across the four housing authorities in the Dublin Region, i.e. Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council, and is being implemented through the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The focus of this pilot scheme is to transition qualified households from emergency accommodation, including hotels, into private rented tenancies.
At present, the full HAP scheme is only available to all qualifying households in one of the four Dublin local authorities, South Dublin County Council. The full roll-out of the scheme will be completed by 1 March 2017, with the introduction of HAP to the administrative areas of Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal County Council. A multi-agency HAP Implementation Dublin Working Group has been established to advise and prepare for the introduction of the scheme to the Dublin region based on experience of the roll-out to date, and the particular pressures and characteristics of the rental market in Dublin.
Funding for the HAP scheme has increased year on year, since it commenced in September 2014, in order to meet the continuing costs of existing HAP households, and the costs of additional households being supported. Budget 2016 increased HAP funding to €47.7m for 2016 and Budget 2017 will increase HAP funding by an additional €105m to meet the costs of both existing HAP households and the Rebuilding Ireland target of supporting an additional 15,000 households in 2017.
In order to apply and be assessed for social housing support, including the HAP scheme, please contact your local authority. To qualify for HAP under the homeless pilot scheme, a household must generally be accepted as homeless within the meaning of section 2 of the Housing Act 1988 by one of the four Dublin local authorities. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) can be contacted for further information in this regard.
For more information on the HAP scheme, please go to www.housing.gov.ie