Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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101. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of persons who have been awarded an increase in rental payments uplifts by county under the housing assistance payment, in 2016 and in January 2017. [10781/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, a tenant sources their own accommodation, the tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord and is governed by the Residential Tenancy Act 2004 (as amended). Recognising the pressures in the rental market, the Government increased the maximum rent limits available under the HAP scheme across the country with effect from 1 July 2016. Furthermore, additional flexibility above the existing HAP rent limits was made available to all HAP local authorities from the same date.

Each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 20% above the prescribed maximum rent limit in circumstances where it is necessary, because of local rental market conditions, to secure appropriate accommodation for a household that requires it. It is a matter for the local authority to determine if the application of the flexibility is warranted on a case by case basis.

My Department does not hold data on the number of HAP payments that utilised additional flexibility being made during 2016. From data that is available, at 14 February 2017, 8.5% of the total number of households (excluding qualified homeless households) being supported by HAP were benefitting from the additional flexibility that was provided to local authorities to exceed the maximum rent limits.