HAP to be increased by up to 35%!

Sinn Féin says it's not enough and that it should be increased by 50%.

The Labour Party wants the overall level of HAP to be increased and wants the income qualification for HAP to be increased too. Apparently, it's not enough that 50% of people in private rented accommodation get help from the taxpayer to pay their rent.

Brendan
 
Can someone clarify if the increase is allowable for someone already in receipt of HAP. From what I've read it looks like its new recipients from next month.

I have kept the rent at the same amount on my rental for years as I have had a very good tenant who is in receipt of maximum Hap for a single person, who I know would'nt be able to afford it but I would now like to increase the rent if HAP will cover it..
 
Hears one for you. We are putting a house up for sale. The agent looked at the house and said ‘I could get you €1950 per month for a single girl and child‘ so where is the incentive to go to work and pay your way or get a morgage? Current rent was not increased for 6 years as tenant on rent allowance. Rent €900 pm.
Why can’t the Government change policies and just build council estates? Many of us were brought up in council estates and there Is nothing wrong with them. Just make sure that tenants pay their share and if they don’t evict them.

I think the 35% if for those at risk of being homeless. The councils can already increase the threshold by I think 15%/20% but now your hearing it in the news that it is now increased by a bit more.

If the landlord increase by the allowable 2% and is over the limits there will be a team to negotiate with the landlord to help stop tenant ended up in a b and b. I think this system is already in place but it looks good .
 
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NicOir said:
Can someone clarify if the increase is allowable for someone already in receipt of HAP. From what I've read it looks like its new recipients from next month.

I have kept the rent at the same amount on my rental for years as I have had a very good tenant who is in receipt of maximum Hap for a single person, who I know would'nt be able to afford it but I would now like to increase the rent if HAP will cover it..
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If they are at risk of being homeless there is flexibility there. Increase from 20% to 35%.
You can give your tenant a notice to increase rent as in the format shown on the Rtb website and the allowable 2% increase. If the amount is well over the limit your tenant can approach the council and see what they say. More than likely you will get a call from the council.
You do not have to follow through with the notice. You can reduce or retract it.
many landlords have been stung by keeping the rents low.
 
Tried to tie this into the other thread but, yep, and this is going to continue to solve nothing.

HAP , RAS , and leasing of private property cost the State just short of €1bn 2021... now its going to be a little bit more or say 20% it becomes 1.2bn ................

And none of the recipients get closer to having a home
 
Paul O Mahoney said:
Tried to tie this into the other thread but, yep, and this is going to continue to solve nothing.

HAP , RAS , and leasing of private property cost the State just short of €1bn 2021... now its going to be a little bit more or say 20% it becomes 1.2bn ................

And none of the recipients get closer to having a home
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If half are private landlords (.6bn) then it could cost the state less than half again as paye prsi and usc would be paid to the Government as well as property tax.
 
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Not only have they discovered the Money Tree, it seems likes it's a whole forest of Money Trees :)
 
Sconeandjam said:
If half are private landlords (.6bn) then it could cost the state less than half again as paye prsi and usc would be paid to the Government as well as property tax.
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"If " being the word.

Most or a least a sizeable majority will not be giving 52% as they would have legitimate write offs, interest, insurance, maintenance and capital Allowances management fees if the employ and agent.

Older landlords might not have a mortgage but they might have the property as " additional income " plus say the state pension their income wouldn't justify the higher tax bracket and PRSI might be zero and USC very low .

This has been said before and while I understand the premise I am confident that its not more than 30% what's the figure no idea and I doubt Revenue break it out.

But not matter what's spent on these schemes it's the taxpayer who pays for it, where ever that money comes from .
 
Sconeandjam said:
Why can’t the Government change policies and just build council estates?
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Because there's nobody to build them.
Sconeandjam said:
Many of us were brought up in council estates and there Is nothing wrong with them.
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Ah there is. I was born in one, I spent much of my childhood with friends in others and I work near a few and there's loads wrong with them. If there's one positive in the State's housing policy over the last 30 years it's that they aren't building vast housing estates.
Sconeandjam said:
Just make sure that tenants pay their share and if they don’t evict them.
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Virtually nobody gets evicted for not paying their rent.... or their mortgage. I agree with you though, I'd evict them.
 
Purple said:
Because there's nobody to build them.

Ah there is. I was born in one, I spent much of my childhood with friends in others and I work near a few and there's loads wrong with them. If there's one positive in the State's housing policy over the last 30 years it's that they aren't building vast housing estates.

Virtually nobody gets evicted for not paying their rent.... or their mortgage. I agree with you though, I'd evict them
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In the Uk you sign a tenancy agree to keep the property in order and pay your rent. If you do not pay your council rent you are deemed to have made yourself homeless and you will be out in a hostel or b and b. You will be taken off the housing list. The risk is enough.
In the case of non payment of mortgage you will be evicted. Definitely different here where you can live in a house for 6years and never pay a penny and you can stay in the house. That does need to change.
 
According to the Irish Times today 95% of apartments in Dublin are purchased by investment funds. That means these HAPS increases are just improving the yields for those investors.
 
The HAP payment is, I think, being used cynically to mask the true housing need.

Once a tenant accepts a HAP payment, he/she is removed from the housing list and so their housing needs are considered "met".

But the person may have accepted HAP to get some kind of accommodation, which might not be remotely suitable, but is better than being homeless.

The HAP tenant can go on the transfer list, but there is no information regarding how many HAP tenants are on that list.
 
While it may be cynical, they are certainly not homeless if they are livng in rented accomodation

The only way to solve the housing crisis is to build more houses in areas where people want to live
 
Sophrosyne said:
The HAP payment is, I think, being used cynically to mask the true housing need.

Once a tenant accepts a HAP payment, he/she is removed from the housing list and so their housing needs are considered "met".

But the person may have accepted HAP to get some kind of accommodation, which might not be remotely suitable, but is better than being homeless.

The HAP tenant can go on the transfer list, but there is no information regarding how many HAP tenants are on that list.
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And the biggest cohort getting HAP are single people, and that has been the way since its introduction in 2014, and the national rollout in 2018 , the next biggest is single parents.

HAP, RAS, etc cost just shy of a billion last year 2021 with another increase in the number of people availing of it.

So, in total approx 250k people are living in accommodation that are subsidised by HAP, etc which really isnt going to get smaller in fact I would suggest that it's highly probable that 300,000 will be getting HAP by 2028 the 10th anniversary of its national roll out.

And despite being off the housing list they certainly aren't homeowners, it's a terrible strategy and needs to be stopped, with the money used to either refurbish or build country council properties.
 
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