Is the State paying too much in Rent Supplement?

horusd said:

It would surely be in the gov't's interest to off-load the management of rent supplement to an (private?) agency tasked with finding the cheapest rents. They could be incentivized to do this, and it provide income to rental agencies as well as saving the state money.

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The thing about rent suppliment is that the person choses where they want to live. SW has no roll to play in deciding locations, properties etc. Obviously, the person is going to pick the best accommodation that SW is willing to pay for. Hiring an agency would just add a layer of unnecessary administration. Cutting the allowance is the easiest way to stop the waste. If you did hire outside help, it would be to survey what the average accommodation costs are for working people earning minimum wage and use it as a threshold.

The state currently owns more property than you can shake a stick at. Surely it would cost way less to bring all those properties up to standard and house those in need in those properties. On top of that, the government may be in a position to create a few jobs by employing small, local businesses for on-call maintenance (plumbers, electricians, etc.). The investment would pay for itself in less than a year.

csirl said:

Another thread on this forum posted link to the current Rent Suppliment rates:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/RentSupplement.aspx


It appears that a single parent or couple with 3 children get €1,100 per month...

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The amounts on the SW website are not the amounts paid in Rent Supplement.

They are the maximum rent limits - a person or family seeking Rent Supplement must rent a property at or below the rent limit appropriate to their family size and county.

Lower local limits can also be set, and this can be used where there are large discrepancies between the average rent in an area and the maximum limit.

Persons on SW must pay a minimum contribution of €24 per week, plus extra if their income exceeds the supplementary welfare allowance rate for their family size (as a guide, SWA rates are €2 pw below Jobseeker's Allowance rates). Persons who work part-time will pay more than the minimum.

A family with 3 children on Jobseeker's Allowance renting a property of €1100 per month are required to pay €112.65 themselves, the Rent Supplement paid is the difference.

The Rent limits are reviewed every 12-18 months and have been cut in recent years.

The state is using tax payers money to put a floor under the rental market. It is disgraceful. There is no justification for it.
There is a massive oversupply of rental property. Rates should be cut by a minimum of 30%. This will lower rents right across the country.