Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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284. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will review the HAP limits and clarify if the band for a parent/parents with two children should have a further uplift where a three-bedroom property is needed due to the age and the sex of children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8093/23]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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A key principle of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is that eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector, which best suits their needs, in their area of choice. On entering the HAP scheme, tenants are required to stay in the same property for at least two years. However, they may be able to apply to their local authority for a new HAP payment for another property sooner if their circumstances change: for example, if they receive a job offer in another area, or if their family changes in size and the property is no longer suitable.

Since 11 July 2022 each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 35% above the prescribed maximum rent limit or up to 50% in the case of homeless households in the Dublin region. It should be noted that it is a matter for the local authority to determine if the application of the discretion is warranted on a case by case basis and also the level of additional discretion applied in each case.

A separate review of the discretion available to Homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, which is up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits, is currently being undertaken by my Department, in conjunction with The Housing Agency.

My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review and closely monitors the level of discretion being used by local authorities, taking into account other sources of data, including Residential Tenancies Board rent data published on a quarterly basis.