# Rent allowance



## lyonsa3 (17 Jan 2008)

A quick question on a rent allowance tentant. The tentant in question is entitled to 150 euro per week. If I'm charging rent of 750 euro what do I fill in on the form (under rent) for her community welfare officer. Do I fill in 600 euro and let her come up with the rest or do I fill in the full amount I'm charging?


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## gipimann (17 Jan 2008)

You fill in the amount you're actually charging, not the amount they're receiving or think they'll be entitled to.


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## lyonsa3 (18 Jan 2008)

What i'm trying to ask is, if her allowance is only 150 euro per week will the welfare officer reject her application as the rent i'm charging is over this (750 euro per month). If so how do most couples on welfare afford to rent as average rent in my area is well over 800 euro per month?


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2008)

The qualifying conditions/criteria for _RA_ should be outlined on the _SW _website.

*Rent Allowance*


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## gipimann (18 Jan 2008)

lyonsa3, I presume you mean that there's a rent ceiling of €150 per week in your area for your type of accommodation & the family size of your tenant (single, couple, etc).

If you declare your rent charged below the going rate for the area, the Community Welfare Officer will know it's not correct because they will be aware of the rents in their area, and will most likely query it further (it may be seen as collusion between landlord and tenant to receive rent supplement when the tenant is not entitled to it).

There are different rent limits for different family sizes, what applies to a single person would not apply to a couple, family with children etc. The limits also vary by county.

The link to the current maximum rent limits may be found here www.welfare.ie/topics/legis/si44_07.pdf

(PDF document, requires Adobe Reader). See page 4 of the doc for the limits.

The Rent Allowance link is to a different scheme - the payment the OP refers to is Rent Supplement, paid under Supplementary Welfare Allowance. The confusion arises because most people colloqually call Rent Supplement "Rent Allowance".


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2008)

I presume the fundamental question here is not "can/should I collude in welfare fraud?"? If it is then this thread will be closed.


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## lyonsa3 (18 Jan 2008)

No thats not the question. All I was asking was what rent figure do I fill out on the form. The 150 p/w she is entitled to (the amount the welfare will be paying) or the total rent (welfare allowance and the extra rent she will need to come up with herself).

Sorry I got in wrong in the original question. It should be rent supplement not rent allowance.


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## gipimann (19 Jan 2008)

As I mentioned earlier, fill out the total amount you're renting the premises for (i.e. whatever your tenant may be entitled to from rent supplement and any extra which she has to come up with herself).

That'll keep everyone right!


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## ClubMan (19 Jan 2008)

lyonsa3 said:


> Sorry I got in wrong in the original question. It should be rent supplement not rent allowance.


Then please edit the thread title to remove the inaccuracy. See the _Suggestions _forum for how to do this.


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