Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

224. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding a situation in which a person that has entered into a HAP tenancy and has an increase in earnings pushing them over the limit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25455/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The nationwide roll-out of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme scheme was completed on 1 March 2017, meaning that eligible households in all 31 local authority areas can now avail of the HAP Scheme. 

In order to be eligible for HAP support, a household must first qualify for social housing support and be placed on a housing list.  A housing authority must carry out an assessment to establish whether the household meets specified statutory eligibility requirements and has a housing need.  One of the eligibility criteria prescribed in the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 is that the household’s income must not exceed the thresholds applicable to the housing authority of application. Decisions on whether an applicant meets the income eligibility threshold are a matter for the local authority concerned.

Once assessed as having a housing need by the local authority and in receipt of social housing support via HAP, HAP tenants are not subject to a reassessment of income or other criteria that might make them ineligible for social housing support. However, if a household’s earnings change, then so does the rent contribution to reflect the household’s increased income and ability to pay. While HAP support is not withdrawn, a household may itself, of course, decide to exit HAP at any point.