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Many people on long-term Rent Supplement are being transferred to the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). You can work full-time and continue to receive HAP.

Every non-dependent adult household member is expected to pay a minimum contribution to the rent of €30. (A non-dependent household member is anyone who is not your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant who is working or getting a social welfare payment in their own right.)

Custom and practice is that the assessable income of the non-dependent household member (that is, gross income less PRSI and travel costs to work) is divided by the appropriate rate of SWA for their situation which is then multiplied by €30 to establish how much they should contribute to the household's rent.

If the non-dependent household members are a couple their contribution is €40.

When your child turns 18, if they are still in full-time education, there will be no change to your Rent Supplement. If a child living in the household turns 18 and gets a job or a social welfare payment in their own right they are expected to pay a minimum contribution of €30. However, if benefit and privilege has been assessed against their social welfare payment they do not have to contribute €30.

If a child leaves home your rent must be under the limit for your reduced family size. (The Rent Supplement limits vary depending on where you live. You will need to know what the limits are in your local area.)

If you have a new baby or if you adopt or foster a child your family size will increase so the rent limit that applies to your household may increase. If you have a large family and you need larger accommodation that costs more than the rent limits that apply in your area you should discuss your situation with your local Community Welfare Officer - see ‘How to apply’ below.

The DSP can make additional Rent Supplement payments above rent limits when necessary. This is done on a case-by-case basis, for both people getting Rent Supplement and for new applicants.

If someone comes to live with you as a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant you will be treated as a couple and you will be expected to pay a minimum household contribution of €40 towards your rent. You do not have to make a new application for Rent Supplement. However your existing claim will be reviewed and any income that your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant has from work or from a social welfare payment will be taken into account. If the person is working full-time you will no longer be entitled to Rent Supplement.

If your spouse or partner leaves the family home and you remain there with your children, your Rent Supplement payment does not change (because the rent limits for a one-parent family and a couple with children are the same). However, if your partner has custody of your child(ren) for most of the time, the rent limits applied for the family size can change (because the child(ren) are no longer in the home full time).

If your former spouse or partner pays maintenance some of this will be assessed in the means test for Rent Supplement. The first €95.23 per week of maintenance payments is assessable in full (because it is considered to be a contribution towards your housing expenses) and any amount above this is assessed under the additional household income disregard - see ‘Additional household income disregard’ above.

If you do not have children and your partner leaves you, will be assessed as a single person for Rent Supplement.

If you own your home as joint owners and the person who leaves the family home applies for Rent Supplement, they may be refused because they are considered to have an interest in the home. However, once a separation agreement is in place and the home ownership issues have been resolved, the person who left should be able to apply for Rent Supplement in their own right. They will need to have their housing need assessed by the local authority in the usual way.

If you have shared custody or guardianship of a child and that child stays with you overnight for part of the week, you should check with your local Community Welfare Officer (CWO) to find out what level of Rent Supplement can be provided. Each Rent Supplement claim is examined with regard to all of the circumstances of the case.

If you are not the primary carer and are looking for accommodation to provide for your children the DSP will take the following into consideration when processing your Rent Supplement claim:

When you have qualified for social housing support and are getting HAP, you will continue to get the payment, even if you no longer meet all the qualifying criteria of the social housing assessment. For example, if your income rises above the income threshold for social housing, you will remain eligible for HAP. However, you must inform the local authority if your income changes, so they can recalculate the differential rent you pay, see Rent contribution below.

The local authority will inspect your accommodation within 8 months of the first HAP payment to your landlord, unless the accommodation has already been inspected in the last twelve months. An inspector will check that the accommodation meets the minimum standards for rented housing.

Your housing needs have now been met under HAP and you will no longer be on the local authority’s housing waiting list. However, if you still want to be considered for local authority housing or housing provided by an approved housing body, you can apply to the local authority to be placed on the transfer list.

If you find accommodation in another local authority area, contact the HAP section of your current local authority for advice.

The weekly rent contribution that you pay will be based on the current ‘differential rent scheme’ for your local authority. This scheme links the rent contribution a household must pay to the household income and the ability to pay. If your income increases so does your rent contribution, and if your income decreases, the weekly rent contribution decreases.

You must notify the local authority of any changes in your income or household size, so that your rent contribution can be recalculated. If you take up a job or increase your working hours, you will still be eligible for HAP, as there is no income limit for HAP once you have qualified for the scheme. Check with your local authority for the details of their differential rent scheme.

Your weekly rent contribution to the local authority should be paid using either:

If your rent is not automatically paid in these 2 ways, you can pay it:

You can also get a statement of your HAP payments online or using the HAP app.

If you overpay your rent by mistake, you can apply for a refund.

The local authority will make the HAP payment to your landlord on the last Wednesday of each month. This payment is subject to certain conditions:

Find more information about these terms and conditions on hap.ie.

All local authorities use the HAP Shared Services Centre, which is based in Limerick, to collect rents from HAP tenants and make HAP rental payments to landlords.

If your rent is more than the HAP limits allowed for your household, you must pay the additional amount directly to your landlord. However, your local authority must make sure that your tenancy is sustainable, so you will not get a HAP payment if you can’t afford the rent.