Rent higher than allowance in county

[dangelo]

Hi there,

I have recently split with my partner and lost my job also.
I am staying in the rented home with child and a rent of 720 per month.
the allowance for kilkenny is 600.
will I have to move out? how does this work now?
I would be very grateful for advice.

 

[donee]

you have to make up the difference yourself i.e. you add €120 to make up the balance,from child benefit, wages etc

 

[twofor1]

Do you mean rent supplement ?

All the info on it is here, but the first rules are you must be on welfare or HSE payment and the rent must be below the maximum set for your County.

I think this was asked here before and the reasoning behind it is if you are on welfare you should not be able to afford an additional €120.

I suppose your CWO is the best person to talk to.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/RentSupplement.aspx#Rules2

 

[gipimann]

you have to make up the difference yourself i.e. you add €120 to make up the balance,from child benefit, wages etc

This isn't permitted, unless there is sufficient additional income to allow the person to pay the higher amount - e.g. someone with part-time work and One-Parent Family might be able to contribute more than someone on One-Parent Family on its own.

OP, you should talk to the CWO - ordinarily you wouldn't qualify as your rent exceeds the maximum limit, however your current circumstances can be taken into account and you may be granted a short-term rent supplement for the higher priced property until you can either renegotiate with the landlord or find cheaper property.

 

[dangelo]

so do people generally have to move out of their home in these cases?
what a mess. I stayed here so as not to uproot my daughter, and keep some form of stability in her life.
are these amounts reviewed annually?

 

[dereko1969]

ask the landlord to reduce the rent? if you've been a good tenant to date and he'd have a steady stream of income coming in it might be worth it for him rather than having the place empty for a month or two after you move out - he may find he has to reduce the rent for the next people anyway.

 

[gipimann]

dangelo,
Since their introduction, Maximum Rent Limits were reviewed every 18 months, however they have been reviewed at 12 month intervals for the past couple of years as rent levels fell.

In previous years, rent limits increased, so asking tenants to re-negotiate or move wasn't an issue until this year. I have no evidence to hand, but I would suggest that landlords are doing as dereko outlined, reducing the rent to keep the property occupied.

 

[dangelo]

Thanks for all the help and tips. much appreciated.