Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 52: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that up to one third of landlords advertising on the internet state that rent allowance will not be accepted; the action he intends to take arising from the increasing refusal of landlords to rent property to persons in receipt of rent allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17367/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support, in the form of a weekly or monthly payment, to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. The amount of accommodation available for rent has increased significantly in recent years and this has had a positive long term impact on rent levels. Despite recent increases in rent levels the Central Statistics Office Privately Owned Rent Index shows that in the period November 2002 to March 2006 rent levels fell by 3.1%. These trends are favouring tenants in their search for accommodation and increase the range of accommodation available to them.

Under the rent supplement scheme their entitlement is based on the tenant's income support needs with payment generally made directly to the tenant. The tenant's engagement with the Executive usually takes place after the tenant has reached an agreement with the landlord. As such it is not possible to identify if the fact that landlords are refusing to accept rent supplement tenants is causing difficulties for those trying to find accommodation.

I am aware that some landlords who advertise their property on the internet or in the newspapers state that they are unwilling to accept rent supplement recipients as tenants. However, the fact that there are currently over 60,500 rent supplement recipients, an increase of around 15,000 recipients since 2001, indicates that there are significant numbers of landlords who are willing to accept people in receipt of rent supplement as tenants. This is further evident in the fact that more than 14,500 new rent supplements have been awarded so far this year.

Nonetheless, I am concerned that landlords would refuse a tenancy purely because someone is on a social welfare payment. Consequently I have asked officials in my Department to carry out an assessment of this issue and to report back to me on any options that might be available to me to address the matter.