Written answers

Thursday, 5 March 2020

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment

Photo of Claire KerraneClaire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1227. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the steps persons seeking private rented accommodation can take in cases in which they are discriminated against by landlords in view of the fact they are HAP tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3295/20]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme plays a vital role in housing eligible families and individuals.  At the end of Q4 2019, over 71,000 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were more than 52,500 households actively in receipt of HAP support and over 30,000 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to households supported by the scheme. 

A landlord or an agent acting on behalf of a landlord is not legally obliged to enter into a tenancy agreement specifically 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 the following link:

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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 following link: .

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