Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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528. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to increase housing assistance payment, HAP, rates for single persons in County Meath to assist in meeting the new market realities; and if so, when the increase will be made to same. [38503/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), a tenant sources their own accommodation. The tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord and is covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended). The accommodation sourced by tenants should be within the prescribed maximum HAP rent limits, which are based on the household size and the rental market within that area.

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 is aware that some HAP recipients are making payments directly to their landlords, beyond the amount of HAP being paid on their behalf. There is no legislative provision precluding HAP supported households contributing towards the monthly rent to their landlord. Local Authorities have a responsibility to ensure that tenancies are sustainable and are advised not to provide HAP support to tenancies where the household would not be in a position to meet the rental costs being sought.

At the end of Q2 2018, 21.3% of the total number of households being supported by HAP were benefitting from the additional flexibility (excluding those households accommodated through the homeless HAP arrangements in Dublin). In those cases, the average rate of discretionary payment being used was 15.7%above rent limits provided. In the Meath County Council area, at the end of Q2 2018, 46.6% of households had benefitted from additional discretion with the average rate being 14.4% above the relevant rent limits.

The data available to my Department indicates that the current rent limits and the flexibility to exceed those rent limits provide local authorities with sufficient capacity to assist households in securing rented accommodation that meets their needs.

Increasing the HAP rent limits in particular local authority areas could have further inflationary effects, leading to a detrimental impact on the wider rental market, including for those households who are not receiving HAP support.

My Department closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into consideration other sources of data, including Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent data published on a quarterly basis. I am satisfied that the maximum rent limits, together with the additional flexibility available to local authorities, are generally sufficient to support the effective operation of the HAP scheme. However, I will continue to keep the matter under review.