Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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16. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will give a full report on the rental accommodation scheme and leasing tenancies across all the local authorities with regard to the duty of care the local authorities have to the tenants and the impact of rising rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19565/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The original objectives of the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) were set out in a Government decision in July 2004 to provide ‘a more structured approach to long-term rental housing assistance need through the development of medium or long-term contractual arrangements with private accommodation providers, along with social housing provision where appropriate’. The current objectives of the scheme are broader and emphasise: housing quality, housing security and tenant choice, alongside the core goals of reducing long-term dependence on Rent Supplement and securing better value for money. Given the current economic situation, growing housing need and a policy shift away from capital to revenue based solutions to responding to housing supports, the objectives set for RAS remain as valid today as they did in 2004.

The quality of housing sourced, security of tenure and, within reason, choice of location are considered to be at the heart of the scheme, and a measure of an authority’s duty of care to its tenants.

RAS involves local authorities paying landlords market rate rents for property they lease, while also seeking discount from the market rate where possible. This is done on the basis of the guarantee of uninterrupted payment of rent for a specific time. In addition, the level of risk being transferred to the authority when agreeing rental prices is a factor to be considered when rents are being negotiated. While authorities will always do what they can in seeking discounts it may not always be possible mainly due to the issue of supply. Obtaining value for money for the State will always be a key factor in determining how an authority proceeds with its efforts to secure accommodation.

The tenant, for their part, has a contract with the housing authority, whereby they agree to pay a rental contribution to the authority based on the relevant differential rent scheme and not to engage in anti-social behaviour. Authorities do have the discretion to transition households on to the differential rents scheme where they feel that there would be a significant increase in rent for the tenant on coming into RAS. It is important to emphasise however that the contribution, i.e. rent, that a tenant pays to the local authority is not based on market rent but on income i.e. the household’s ability to pay.

When transfers first commenced under RAS in 2005 the differences between the minimum contribution on rent supplement (at the time €13) and a payment under differential rent (charges vary from authority to authority) were much more significant. However in recent years the differentiation has narrowed. The rent supplement minimum was changed in the 2011 Budget to €30pw and Regulations currently being drafted under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 will allow for a closer alignment between differential rents and rent supplement contributions in the future. Section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 will replace, once commenced, existing provisions in relation to differential rent schemes. Regulations and guidelines for housing authorities are currently in preparation in my Department in relation to differential rent payable by local authority tenants under section 31 of the Act. While it is not the intention to implement a national standardised differential rent scheme, the proposed regulations will facilitate a significant harmonisation in the approach by housing authorities to the charging of rent for their dwellings.

In the same way, under the social housing leasing initiative, it is the local authority or approved housing body that contracts with a property owner in a leasing arrangement, to make accommodation available for social housing use. As with RAS the tenant of the local authority or approved housing body pays an income based differential rent to that authority/body.

For both RAS and leasing the tenant’s rent is determined under the local authority’s differential rent scheme and therefore is not impacted by increasing market rents. In this context i t is the local authority/approved housing body and ultimately the State which bears the impact of rising market rents in respect of contractual RAS and leasing arrangements. My Department recoups the cost of these RAS and leasing agreements to local authorities and approved housing bodies.

In addition, all RAS and leasing tenants are social housing tenants and as such the local authority retains the responsibility for their ongoing accommodation needs.