RAS - Rental Accommodation Scheme

Hi all .
first of all I should update my name as it's no longer accurate following a move back to this fair isle of ours : )

I am looking for information on this scheme, where the local authority enters a contract with the landlord to supply housing. We currently have a house in Dublin that has been rented for some time . What are the advantages to tenant/us if this is switched over ? Also in processing of a section 23 purchase (which has dragged out).. has anyone gone this route in the roscommon area?

Any idea of the risks/advantages of this ? I read that this must be less than the SWA rent amount - any ideas if they ever pay out the maximum or if they pay a percentage out ?

Thanks for any input .

I would also like some information on this. I am currently building two 2-bedroom flats and would be interested in renting them out under this scheme.

I read on the Oasis website () that there are limits to what the governement will pay under the current scheme, e.g. for a couple with no children the limit in Sligo is 120 euro per week. Does anyone have any idea if one could expect to receive the 120 euro (or very close to the maximum) figure quoted for a two bedroom flat given the fact that a two bedroom flat could also be suitable for the Couple with 1 child or One-parent family with 1 child category (140 euro/week) - OR are these figures totally unrelated to the Rental Accommodation Scheme

Thanks in advance,

Ronan

I have heard a few things about the RAS which, to date, are unconfirmed.

The most important is, as far as I am aware, the County Council will basically sign a 5-year contract to rent the house from you.

This is guaranteed rent for 5 years with no voids. I would assume that one would have to settle for below market rents for this privilage.

Has anyone on the boards any experience of the RAS?

I was thinking about this scheme too, but haven't done anything about it yet.

it's intended for long term leases >4 yrs

no worries about vacancies

you're still the 'cop', ie have to deal with repairs, behaviour problems etc, but the main one about rent is taken care of including the renters portion, by an electronic payment to your a/c from corpo.

it comes with a standard list of contract details that are obligatory applying to the landlord/renter. you can't contract out of these but can add on more ...

this is the site I was looking at, must contact them to see what the payment levels are with them for their area:
[broken link removed]

the links at the end of the page are useful.


R.

I'm waiting for a copy of the contract to review before I start negotating with the council.

One major drawback I see is that you have no control over who the council decides to house in your property, yet you are responsible for sorting out any mess they cause.

I would imagine if the council or health board have an unruly family who can't find private rented accomodation themselves, then it is likely that they will be housed in RAS accomodation under the control of the council.

Anybody got any experience of this?

I've just received draft contracts for RAS scheme. I need to read the contracts a few more times to fully understand the implications however a couple of items are standing out for me.

1. You have no control over who the council decides to put in your house yet you are fully responsible as landlord to deal with any anti-social behaviour including eviction.

2. If the tenants(selected by the council) damage the property beyond reasonable wear and tear then the council will only pay 50% of reasonable repair costs up to a maximum of 1 months rent.

3. At each change of tenant you are expected to put the house back in the condition it was before the previous tenant moved in.

Without having any control/veto over who is put into your property, I think it is unfair to accept these risks?

Does anyone have any comments or experience of this scheme?

Many thanks.

Haven't signed up to it yet but one of my tenants has been selected to go on the scheme so i've been chatting to Fingal County Council about it these last few weeks. Basically its a scheme for those who are on LONG TERM housing benefit and are likely to remain on it. Instead of the Dept of Social Welfare footing the bill it will now be the local council and they have been given the task of making some form of saving on the overall cost.

My people are a Nigerian family living in a three year old 3-bed house in Swords area. Current rent is €1200 which is made up of €1141 from the social welfare and the rest from the tenant. They are very decent people and to be fair to them, model tenants. I presume from the fact that Dept of SW has passed them over to Finglal CC for the RAS scheme that they are in some way deemed to be "LONG TERM". I'd love for these people to stay with me for five years and I know that they are very happy with the house and the manner in which we conduct our dealings generally but as always there are certain causes for concern that have come to my attention in relation to the scheme

1) If your original tenant moves out during the 5 years then you have absolutely zero say in who moves in to your property. County council will pick the new tenant and their take on it is "well you would have to pick somebody after meeting them for perhaps 20 minutes whereas we would know them for months or perhaps years".

2) Initial offer was for €1000 per month which I indicated was economic suicide and declined. They made a subsequent offer of €1050 which has since been increased to €1100 as an "absolute maximum". I have since had a conversation with a CC employee who has informed me that the basis for their calculations on the maximum is 11 months of the "going rate" spread over the 12 months i.e. €1200 x 11 divided by 12 = €1100


After all the discussions etc etc I'm still undecided what to do. If I could be sure my tenant would be around for the majority if not all of the 5 years I'd be happy but I'm not overly keen on being responsible for somebody I didn't choose in the first place.

Also in processing of a section 23 purchase (which has dragged out).. has anyone gone this route in the roscommon area?

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I'm ignorant of the section 23 scheme from the investors point of view. However, I am familiar with recently built section 23 properties in parts of Roscommon. They seem to be struggling to get tennants for them in a big way. Maybe this isnt typical but the estates I'm familiar with have the hallmark of white elephants. Whilst they all seem to have sold off the plans, they seem to be struggling big time to rent them out.

No doubt the solution that will be found for this problem will be that they will be allowed to be used for social housing - which will save the investors but spoil the little backwater towns in which they are located. Don't get me wrong - not a snob or anything but I don't think that anything other than a mix (private/affordable/social) should be allowed.

Also, investors are paying way above the odds for section 23 properties. Is it really worth it for them based on whatever tax advantages come with it??

Would posters mind sticking to experiences or opinions on the new RAS schemes on this thread rather than opinions on section 23 housing in Roscommon. Thanks

Buckshee said:

After all the discussions etc etc I'm still undecided what to do. If I could be sure my tenant would be around for the majority if not all of the 5 years I'd be happy but I'm not overly keen on being responsible for somebody I didn't choose in the first place.

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Buckshee I'm in a similiar situation to you, my tenant of the last 3 years was informed that she had to move to RAS, but decided to move back to her mother's house instead.

I've spoken to the council who are sending out an inspector this Thursday. To be honest I'm bordering on not going with the RAS scheme. There is a huge demand(so the local agents tell me anyway?) for rental accommodation in the part of Ballyfermot D10 where my house is, so I may go the traditional route.

I have a difficulty with not having control over who the council put in your property yet you have to deal with any problems as with a normal tenant.

The councils are really on to a winner particulary if they have families with a checkered past on their housing list. They only have to pay maximum one months rent each time a tenant or tenants children decide to hack the plaster from your walls etc.

Is there anybody out there with experience of RAS?

I've no personal experience of the above but a house was let in this fashion on our road up to a few years ago. The owner was going abroad and felt this was the safest way of letting the property. No one on the road had any problems with the tenants per se, but during that time, we had a lot of burgularies, car thefts etc. No one equated this to the occupants on the corner until the police dragged one of them out one day. Apparently he was well known to them and had committed a number of crimes in the area. The owner decided to sell up and discovered that he had a number of totally unrelated people staying in his house. One, a woman, confined herself to her room where she lived with 23 ....yes 23 cats!

The owner had great difficulty getting rid of these people. Eventually he did and got the builders in to renovate. I spoke to one of the builders who told me that no mask was good enough to stop his workers from being sick as they tried to clear the premises. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen in his life. The woman in question had been an inmate of a mental institution and had been released as part of this 'put them back in the community' type scheme. She has been re-housed under the RAS scheme.

I'd make very sure that I dotted all my Is and crossed all my Ts before I entered such an arrangement. The owner of this house assumed it would be allocated to a family...it was not...they filled the rooms.

A friend has 2 properties in Longford and dealt with the guys in the Council down there. From my conversation with here, it appears they were very flexible and guaranteed the landlord full knowledge of who the tenant would be in advance (so effectively giving the landlord a 'veto' on the tenant, etc). I see they have details on www.longfordcoco.ie

Newshound said:

A friend has 2 properties in Longford and dealt with the guys in the Council down there. From my conversation with here, it appears they were very flexible and guaranteed the landlord full knowledge of who the tenant would be in advance (so effectively giving the landlord a 'veto' on the tenant, etc). I see they have details on www.longfordcoco.ie

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Will they give you a full background check on the people? Would this not be an invasion of privacy? With the above example I'm sure no one had the right to enquire into her mental health once she had been discharged. In point of fact, the landlord didn't even think of asking.

liteweight said:

Will they give you a full background check on the people? Would this not be an invasion of privacy? With the above example I'm sure no one had the right to enquire into her mental health once she had been discharged. In point of fact, the landlord didn't even think of asking.

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Indeed, the situation as Newshound describes would be illegal and leave the council open to a civil suit if the potential tenant was to find out that they lost on a house due to information which the county council gave out about them.

Well guys i didn't actually deal with the council myself. All i know if they appeared to be working hard to make the RAS system work for both their clients and the landlords too. Think about if, if you rent in the open market, you will generally carry out some checks on the potential tenants by confirming their place of work or even checking with their last landlord- i know most of my friends in the landlord business do these things as routine!