Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. With regard to the issue he raised about the housing body, I know what he was referring to. As he is aware, discussions took place last night in order to solve the problem. I am happy that it is certainly moving in the right direction. Having said that, I share some of the Deputy's concerns and attitudes in respect of ensuring common sense prevails.

Consistency and fairness are at the heart of the new differential rent framework. Responsibility for setting local authority rents has been devolved as an executive function to individual local authorities since 1986. Under the new scheme, this will become a reserved function. While all housing authorities charge rents known as differential rents, related to the income of tenant households, the amount of rent varies from local authority to local authority across the country. This has led to a situation whereby similar households in comparable accommodation are charged varying amounts of differential rent depending on where they live and the local authority letting the accommodation. The rent regimes in individual local authority areas also differ on issues such as the types and amounts of income that are reckonable for differential rent purposes. There is no justification for this disparate and inconsistent approach to rent setting for accommodation that is funded wholly by the Exchequer. There are many cases that cause great concern, so this needs to be addressed.

Section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 facilitates significant harmonisation of local authority rent levels while retaining the principle of having rents related to household income and leaving some discretion to individual authorities to determine rent policies in their areas. The new system, however, will be more equitable, transparent and consistent, with regulations providing for a base charge for each household member, amounting to €30 per week in the case of single-person households, which is identical to the rent contribution paid by single persons in receipt of rent supplement, and €45 per week for couples. Households with incomes in excess of thresholds to be set in regulation, which will be related to household composition, will also be required to pay a differential charge of a proportion of their income above the threshold.

Individual housing authorities are already empowered under the Housing Acts to include charges in the rent relating to the costs of works and services provided to dwellings.

The Government's Social Housing Strategy 2020, published a few weeks ago, indicated that the necessary statutory instruments will be made in the first quarter of next year to commence the process of introducing the new rents framework. The elected members of each local authority will then have a number of months to make their first rent scheme under the 2009 Act within the parameters laid down in the regulations.

A further commencement order will be made later in 2015 introducing rent charging under section 31. On the introduction of section 31 rents, housing authorities will have a two-year transitional period during which they will continue to set rents at their own discretion thus affording them the opportunity to move in incremental steps towards the rent levels that will apply on expiry of the transitional period.

Under an amendment of section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, the new rent framework will apply also to rent contributions payable by beneficiaries under the new scheme of housing assistance currently being piloted by seven housing authorities. In the new year, I will prescribe the rent contributions payable in respect of housing assistance during the two-year transitional period for the introduction of the new rent framework.

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