Rising rent prices in Leitrim prompt call for higher HAP limits

Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme helps renters with long-term housing needs by providing financial support from local authorities, including for those who have been receiving rent supplements long-term. 

Leitrim County Council has heard that some Leitrim families availing of the HAP scheme are struggling to survive due to rising rent prices.

Sinn Féin Cllr Róisín Kenny proposed that the Council call on the Government to increase the HAP rent limits in the county as a matter of urgency. 

“Rents have risen far above the HAP limit leaving many tenants struggling to make up the difference.

“While rents in Leitrim have increased significantly in recent years, the HAP rent limits have remained static. They range from €340 for a single person to €500 for a family with three children.

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“Even with the local authority being allowed through discretion to raise the HAP payment by 35 percent above these rates, that gives a maximum figure of €459 for a single person and €675 for a couple or single person for three children per month,” Cllr Kenny explained.

Cllr Kenny told the Council that the average rent in Leitrim is currently listed at €1139, highlighting that finding any family home for rent in the county for €675 is completely unrealistic.

“These families are left with no choice but to take on private rental properties with rents far above these limits and pay the difference from the HAP directly to the landlord, effectively paying two rents.

“I’ve been contacted by people who are struggling and facing decisions like whether or not they can afford to fill the oil before the winter.

“These people are on social housing lists. The Government needs to provide for them so that they can afford to rent while they await social housing.

“It’s not their fault that successive Governments have failed to provide anywhere near the amount of social housing they need,” she continued.

In Leitrim, a single person's income limit to secure HAP must be under €30,000. For a family of four, they cannot be earning more than €34,500.

Cllr Kenny stressed the need to increase these limits.

“These income limits also need to be increased to ensure that more people can get the assistance that they need.

“This is a short term solution. The real solution is for the State to build more social housing for those who are eligible to get on the housing list and also affordable housing, for those who are above the income limit for social housing but are still struggling with high rents with little to no hope of ever owning a home of their own,” Cllr Kenny concluded.

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The motion was seconded by Cllr Fallon and Cathaoirleach Paddy O’Rourke acknowledged that all members across the assembly were in agreement.