Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 94 together.

The housing assistance payment is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. Eligible households can source their own accommodation in the private rental sector, which should be within the HAP rent limits provided to them by the local authority. Maximum rent limits for the HAP scheme are set out for each housing authority area by the Housing Assistance Payment (Amendment) Regulations 2017.

Under Housing for All, my Department was tasked with undertaking an analytical exercise to examine whether an increase in the level of discretion available to local authorities under HAP is required. The Housing Agency carried out this analytical exercise on behalf of my Department to better understand what level of discretion should be made available to local authorities under HAP to maintain adequate levels of support.

Since 11 July 2022 the HAP discretion rate has increased from 20% to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit and, for new tenancies, the couple's rate has been extended to single person households. It is, of course, a matter for the local authority to determine if the application of the discretion is warranted on a case-by-case basis and to decide the level of additional discretion applied in each case.

A separate review of the discretion available to homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, which is up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits, is currently being undertaken by my Department, in conjunction with the Housing Agency.

My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review and closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into account other sources of data, including RTB rent data published on a quarterly basis.

The Minister is committed to decreasing our reliance on the HAP scheme and central to that is significantly scaling up our social housing supply. Housing for All is the Government's plan to increase the supply of new homes to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost-rental homes. As new build supply of social and affordable housing ramps up, there will be reduced reliance on the HAP scheme.

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