Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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142. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department has directed local authorities to increase rent paid by persons (details supplied); if so, the reason for this increase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19097/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has not issued any instructions or advice to housing authorities or Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) recently regarding reviewing rents for social housing tenants.

The making and amending of rent schemes is the responsibility of housing authorities as an integral part of their housing management functions, subject to broad principles laid down by my Department in Circular letter HRT 3/2002 of 6 March 2002.  Where social housing units are provided by AHBs under Payment and Availability (P&A) arrangements with local authorities, it is a condition of such funding that rents be determined in accordance with the differential rents scheme of the housing authority in which the house is situated, and AHBs will carry out rent reviews from time to in accordance with the particular rents scheme in question.  Where sheltered housing is provided by AHBs under the Capital Assistance Scheme, my Department’s guidance states that rents should be at levels which are reasonable having regard to tenant’s incomes and the outlay of the AHB on the accommodation.

 The reviewing of local authority housing rents is also a matter for individual housing authorities.  Guidelines entitled “Rent Assessment, Collection, Accounting and Arrears Control”, prepared in 2001 by the Housing Unit (which subsequently became part of the Housing Agency) in conjunction with my Department and the City and County Managers Association, set out good practice in the administration of rent related matters. The Guidelines state that local authorities should review the rent assessment of all existing tenants at least annually to ensure that all tenants are paying the correct rent and to update rents to reflect changes in tenants’ incomes and in housing management costs.