Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will advise on the guidelines for local authorities regarding the inclusion of social welfare payments in calculating differential rents; if he will provide a list of social welfare payments and their inclusion as income with regard to this calculation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56618/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Local authorities set and collect rents on their dwellings in accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of such rent schemes is generally a matter for local authorities within broad principles set out by my Department, including that rent levels should be based on income and reflect tenants’ ability to pay.

Local discretion and flexibility are inherent in the devolved administration of rent schemes and different approaches are taken to rent setting across local authorities. Accordingly, decisions regarding the sources of income included and disregarded for rent assessment purposes, including the various social welfare payments, are a matter for individual local authorities. My Department has no role in this regard.

Housing for All commits to developing proposals for a standardised national differential rents scheme across the country. Following the recent review of Housing for All, and having regard to the significant changes in the economic environment over the past year, this action is now scheduled for completion in Q3 2023.