# Rent Allowance / Social Welfare Payment



## Very_Worried (30 Dec 2009)

Hi, im due my baby in 8weeks! Me & my partner live together, but we are not getting on at all, i was wondering would i be entitled to look for rent allowance to get my own place as i have no where to go or what are my options as i dont know what to do????

Also my partner gets paid for me every week in his social welfare payment (qualified adult), But what payment am I entitled to if we were to break up and go our seperate ways???

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks


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## gipimann (30 Dec 2009)

The rules for Rent Supplement were tightened up earlier in the year.

You can now only qualify for Rent Supplement if you have been renting privately for 6 months or have been assessed as having a housing need by the local authority (i.e. you're on the housing list).   There are other rules as well (income, maximum rent) which you have to meet.  What sort of accommodation are you living in now - council house, private rented home, your own place?  All that would have a bearing on qualifying for Rent Supplement too.

If you do go your separate ways, you could either sign on (if you think you'd be available for work) or apply for one parent family payment.  Your partner would stop being paid for you and only be paid for himself.


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## Very_Worried (30 Dec 2009)

we were getting rent allowance but now it has gone to Ras, Its in his name just down that iam living with him!!!

I hand in certs every week from my doc, I dnt get my own payment.

would i just go in to the office and tell them we are longer together and i want to claim for myself until the baby comes???


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## gipimann (30 Dec 2009)

Do you have a child already or will the new baby be your first?  You won't be able to claim One Parent Family Payment unless you've got a child - so if the baby is your first, you can't claim until after he/she is born.

It would be unlikely that you'd get one parent family payment while living at the same address as your partner, so you'd have to have another address before you claim it.

You could sign on in your own right, if you're available for work - but as you're sending in certs, you may not be (that's one for you and/or your GP to decide).  If you can sign on, your partner will lose his qualified adult payment for you.


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## Black Sheep (31 Dec 2009)

Co-habiting couples have the same SW entitlements as married couples while Revenue treat them as singles.

Logical ?????????????


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## benson09 (4 Jan 2010)

Hi,

This is my first post / question on here, so apologies if I have posted my question in the wrong area. Basically I would like to see if anyone else has been in the same situation and how they managed it.
My father passed away about 2 years ago at which time my mother moved from the family home to be near to me and my family- She moved from the south of the country to the north east. 
Initially I funded her rent from renting out the family home- but this dried up in May 2009 and we have not had any rent from it since. I am now looking into rent allowance / supplement for my mam- but before I approach the community welfare officer I am hoping that someone here can give me some pointers. 
My mother owns the family home, but does not want to live there anymore as it is too big, isolated and too far away for me to help her on a day to day basis. She has lived in the north east now for over 2 years and I am starting to struggle to pay the rent - will she qualify for any rent allowance? given the fact that she has a house elsewhere in the country? Preferred option is that I can get a new tennant into the family home and pay my mams rent from this- but I am looking for 7 months now and no new tennant.

Any info / experience would be really appreciated!!


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## gipimann (4 Jan 2010)

Your mother may not qualify for Rent Supplement on several grounds 

- as she has a property, she can't be assessed as having a housing need by the local authority or placed on a housing list, which is one of the requirements for claiming the supplement.

- the property, whether rented or not, will be assessed as means against her.  

- there is a maximum rent limit for each county and family size.   If she's renting a house in the NE, it's likely that the rent for that house will be above the local limit. 

- you haven't said what income your mother is on, I presume Social Welfare of some sort.  

I would still make an application for Rent Supplement, however be prepared to be refused.

Is it time to consider selling the family home and buying local?   I appreciate it's not a good time to sell, but might be the thing to do.


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## benson09 (4 Jan 2010)

Hi gipimann,

I should have said that I have tried to sell or rent the house since my mother moved, it just happened to rent quicker- so that is what we did. My mother has the state pension and a very small private one. Her rent in the NE is €800 p/m.

I would sell- if I could find a buyer!!!!.
Rent supplement is not something that I want to do, but "needs must" I suppose it is ironic that if my mam did not have the house in the south of the country my mam would probabley qualify for rent supplement / allowance.


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## Bronte (5 Jan 2010)

benson09 said:


> I would sell- if I could find a buyer.


 
Have you reduced the price?  Have you had it valued, what does the auctioneer say?


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## benson09 (5 Jan 2010)

I have- by over 40%- I have also reduced the rent but no luck yet! The auctioneer say's that "things may pick up in 2010"- 

It has been suggested to me that my mother should "gift" the house to my brother now- as it is due to be his eventually, and that would mean my mam would qualiy for the allowance, as she would no longer have a house. I am not sure how that would work.

Maybe I should get some advice from our local TD?


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## Bronte (5 Jan 2010)

Is your mother gifting her only asset a good idea?  Surely reducing the price again and your mother having some money would be better for her.  

Presumable also social welfare have rules on disposing of a house and then having a housing need?  I'd ask social welfare this.


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## gipimann (5 Jan 2010)

When carrying out a means assessment for SWA (including Rent Supplement), the CWO will include "all income and the value of all property of which the claimant deprived himself/herself in order to qualify for SWA".  (quote taken from operational guidelines for SWA from welfare.ie).

If the rent is €800 pm then there's little likelihood of qualifying for Rent Supplement regardless of the circumstances of the owned property elsewhere - the maximum rent limit for a single person (not sharing accommodation) is €85 per week (Monaghan and Cavan) or €108 per week (Louth and Meath).


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## benson09 (5 Jan 2010)

Thanks folks- It is a messy one, but I think I will speak with SW directly to see what they say.

Thanks again for the responses.


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## mimi59 (7 Jan 2010)

hi first time on... i hope someone can help me.. im currently on maternity bennefit and living at home with my mother and 4 siblings (very overcrowded) and am due to return to work on feb 13th. i cant live here anymore we have all fallin out because my baby is constantly crying with collic and reflux, i am on my own and was told by people im not entitled to rent allowance or lone parent payments is this true??? please help


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## gipimann (8 Jan 2010)

You may be entitled to One Parent Family Payment, it depends on your earnings as it's a means-tested payment.   

If you are in full-time employment (over 29 hours per week), you cannot qualify for SWA (which includes Rent Supplement).


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## Sonic (19 Jan 2010)

Hi, I'm currently getting swa and rent allowance since september. In October I've got 1 day of documented employment, recieved 70 euro by personal cheque, have got all the paperwork later. I haven't informed CWO of this earlier. Recently they've got info from revenue obviously. I've sent them all the papers and now they are demanding me to repay 70 euro as they were overpayed. I'm kind of confused with this. I belive I've read somewhere that there is some income limit that is not taken into account. And this is the only income I had since. I believe that I had to travel 100 km to the place and 100 back has to be taken into account?
I would be very grateful for the link and some clarification on this.
Thank you.


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## gipimann (19 Jan 2010)

If you are in receipt of Basic SWA (a weekly payment, currently 196 euro pw), your earnings are counted as means for the week/day you worked.   When you earned the 70 euro, your basic payment should have been reduced by that amount for that week.

There is an income disregard for Rent Supplement, but that does not apply to Basic SWA.
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/RentSupplement.aspx


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## Sonic (19 Jan 2010)

gipimann, thank you!


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## Shane1984 (2 Feb 2010)

gipimann said:


> If you are in receipt of Basic SWA (a weekly payment, currently 196 euro pw), your earnings are counted as means for the week/day you worked.   When you earned the 70 euro, your basic payment should have been reduced by that amount for that week.
> 
> There is an income disregard for Rent Supplement, but that does not apply to Basic SWA.



So, in other words, you're better off not taking the little bit of work?

After travel and lunch this person probably came out with E50 profit. Yet had E70 taken. So in reality they lost E20 for actually trying to go out and get working.

The system is nuts.


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## geri1 (2 Feb 2010)

hi,
wondering if anyone can help me on this. my parents seperated 3 years ago. i own their house but they both have rights of residence.mum cant stay there she has been in private rental for over six months.the local authourity wont put her on the housing list as technically she still has the right to live in her own house but would not be safe there.whenever she goes to the community welfare officer he says nothing can be done unless she is on the housing list so she is in a catch 22 position.is there any other way around this?she wont come back and live with us the rent is very high,my father will not agree to sell the house and the town clerk refuses to put mum on the list,any info on this would be greatly appreciated


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## gipimann (2 Feb 2010)

Shane1984 said:


> So, in other words, you're better off not taking the little bit of work?
> 
> After travel and lunch this person probably came out with E50 profit. Yet had E70 taken. So in reality they lost E20 for actually trying to go out and get working.
> 
> The system is nuts.


 
That's how means-tested payments of Supplementary Welfare Allowance work.   Jobseekers payments may operate differently.


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## fred000000 (8 Feb 2010)

..


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