Rent Allowance for tenants affected by de-control of rents - SW58

This Rent Allowance is payable to tenants of certain dwellings affected by the de-control of rents on 26 July 1982.

Until 26 July 1982, the Rent Restrictions Act 1960 to 1982 controlled rent for certain dwellings. Following de-control, a tenant who would suffer hardship due to a rent increase may qualify for a Rent Allowance.

To qualify for a Rent Allowance, you must satisfy all of the following conditions;

• on 26 July 1982, you must have been the tenant, or the spouse or partner of a tenant, of a dwelling that was subject to rent control until that date. A member of a tenant's family may qualify for an allowance where they took over the tenancy on or before 25th July 2002
• you must be entitled to remain as a tenant of that dwelling
• your rent and terms of your tenancy must be fixed by the relevant court or Rent Tribunal, be set out in written form, signed by the landlord or their agent and a copy given to you. Either you or your landlord may apply to the Rent Tribunal to fix a rent.
• you must satisfy a means test (see below)

Note

You cannot get a Rent Allowance if your rent is agreed between you and the landlord. The rent must have been fixed by the relevant court or Rent Tribunal.

You may qualify for this allowance for the first time if:

• you are the spouse or partner of a deceased eligible tenant

or

• your rent has been re-fixed by the Rent Tribunal or relevant court and because of changes in your situation, you now meet the qualifying conditions

For details of the current amount of the allowance, see Information leaflet SW 58a. (wrong page linked on original site)

A means test is used to assess your means. Any income you or your spouse or partner have, or property or an asset that could provide you with an income is taken into account.

The main items that count as means are:

• cash income including certain social welfare payments and allowances under the Health Acts; income received as head of the household and the annual net cash value of any non-cash earnings (benefits in kind)
• the value of investments, capital or property owned but not personally used (see below)
• the value of any benefit or privilege enjoyed by you

and

• all income and the value of any property that you may have deprived yourself of to qualify for a Rent Allowance.

The following do not count as means:

• the first €20,000 of savings, investments or property (see below)
• Child Benefit
• Family Income Supplement
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Orphan's Contributory Allowance or Orphan's Non-Contributory Pension
• any money received from the Health Service Executive for a child who is boarded out
• income from a charity
• income from casual employment by the Health Service Executive as a home help
• any of the following increases of payment from this Department or the Health Service Executive:
• increase for a qualified child or a prescribed relative
• Living Alone Increase
• over 80 Allowance
• Fuel Allowance

If you are not getting a social welfare or Health Service Executive payment, your weekly means are reduced by a certain amount for each qualified child.

A child is regarded as a qualified child if they are under age 18, normally live with you and are maintained by you, or over age 18 and under age 22 if in full-time education by day.

How savings and investments are assessed

We ignore the actual income (such as interest or dividends paid on investments). Instead, we add together the following items and use a formula (see below) to work out your means:

• cash value of investments, capital and property
• money in accounts in financial institutions and
• cash-in-hand

€20,000 - €30,000 |€1 per €1,000 |

Example

A person has property valued at €38,092.14 and €6,920.07 savings. Their total capital is €45,012.21

Note:

When calculating the means of a couple, the joint means are taken into account.

You can get the allowance as long as you remain the tenant of the dwelling and as long as you satisfy the means test. The amount you receive may change if your situation changes at any time.

Rent Allowance is paid weekly by cheque.

Your application is determined by a Deciding Officer. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you may appeal in writing within 21 days.

You should tell us immediately if any changes occur in your means or the means of other members of your household, or in the number of people living in your household.

You should apply for the Rent Allowance as soon as possible after your rent has been fixed and the tenancy and new rent have been registered with the local housing authority. You should apply within 3 months of the date the new rent comes into effect. If you apply after 3 months, the allowance will only be backdated for 3 months.

To apply, complete application form (RS1) and send it to the address below.

You can get the application form from Rent Supplement Section, LoCall 0818 927770.

For more information contact Rent Allowance Section at:

Acts covering de-control of rents

This allowance is only payable to tenants who were affected by the de-control of rents on 26 July 1982.

To qualify you or a member of your family must have been a tenant at your current dwelling on 26 July 1982 or you must have taken over the tenancy by 25 July 2002 from a family member who was a tenant on 26 July 1982, and the terms of your tenancy must be fixed by a relevant court or Rent Tribunal.

If however, you require short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs, you should enquire about Rent Supplement.

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