Written answers

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment Administration

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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758. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position on an existing tenant renting in the private sector who becomes eligible for housing assistance payment in the course of his or her tenancy; the obligations on the landlord in that situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6663/19]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), a tenant sources their own accommodation in the private rented market. 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.

The earliest date a HAP payment will be payable to a landlord is the date a complete and valid HAP application has been received by the local authority. Limerick City and County Council provide a highly effective transactional shared service for HAP on behalf of all local authorities. This HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) manages all HAP-related rental transactions for the tenant, local authority and landlord. Once a HAP application has been received and confirmed as valid by the relevant local authority, it is then processed by the HAP SSC.

A landlord or an agent acting on behalf of a landlord is not legally obliged to enter into a tenancy agreement with a HAP recipient. However, on 1 January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 introduced “housing assistance” as a new discriminatory ground. This means that discrimination in the provision of accommodation or related service and amenities against people in receipt of rent supplement, HAP or other social welfare payments is prohibited. Further information is available at

If a person feels that they have been discriminated against by a landlord or their agent, they can make a complaint under the Equal Status Acts to the Workplace Relations Commission; further information is available on the Commission's website,.

At the end of Q3 2018 there were more than 40,000 households having their housing needs met via HAP and over 25,000 landlords and agents in receipt of monthly HAP payments.

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