Calls to block ‘loophole’ as 119 HAP tenants forced out due to landlord neglecting property
Local authorities are prevented from making housing assistance payments (HAP) once a prohibition notice has been served on the building, meaning the council deems it unsuitable to live in.
HAP is a social housing payment whereby the local authority pays rent up to a certain limit, with a household providing a weekly contribution based on income and ability to pay.
HHAP is a variant of this scheme focused specifically on providing housing for homeless people, which has a higher maximum cap on rent.
While a prohibition notice does not lead to an eviction, HAP tenants often find themselves in arrears as they can’t afford the rent without the support of the local authority.
In total, at least 119 Dublin households have found themselves in this situation after a prohibition notice was served on their homes.
The majority (88) were previously homeless before moving into their rental homes, and were availing of the HHAP scheme managed by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive.
The remaining 31 were standard HAP tenants.
“These are people that I have dealt with,” said Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan. “[The procedure] is very simple and very callous.”
If issues such as structural problems, serious damp, and inadequate fire safety are brought to the council’s attention, an improvement notice is sent to the landlord.
If the landlord fails to address these issues, a prohibition notice follows.
HAP tenants then get a letter informing them their rental payments will be ceased on a certain date and advising them to present to homelessness services.
While the landlord is legally prohibited from re-letting the property without applying the corrective works, Mr Doolan said many property owners ignore this requirement once a HAP tenant has left.
“The landlord can simply hand it back out to the private market and discriminate against potential HAP tenants by giving it to somebody that’ll pay cash, and the merry-go-round of madness continues,” he said.
“Or they can put money into the house, upgrade it, and then they’re not bound by rent pressure zones because they’re looking for a new tenant, so they can increase the rent.”
The Ballyfermot-Drimnagh councillor said that instead of ceasing HAP payments, landlords should be mandated to carry out the works, with tenants able to reoccupy the home at the same rent once complete.
“This loophole needs to be blocked and it needs to be blocked now,” he said.
“You see the homelessness figures spiralling out of control. This is one of the reasons the figures are going up.”
A spokesperson for Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) said it has also come across HAP and HHAP tenants who would often end up in arrears after their home was served with a prohibition notice.
This could result in the landlord bringing them before a Rental Tenancies Board hearing, ultimately leading to an eviction.
“[HAP] tenants are stuck between a rock and a hard place, where they may be living in accommodation they feel is sub-standard, but if they report it, there is a possibility that the council will withdraw funding,” they said.
“It’s an odd situation, because on one hand, the council can’t sign off on properties that are below their standards.
“But the problem is that generally, people on HAP are also on the social waiting list, so they’re not really being offered anything else.”
Dublin City Council said that because the HAP scheme is “tenant-led”, the responsibility lies with them to secure rented accommodation.
The council continues to provide rental payments for up to 13 weeks after it has served a prohibition notice.
This, the council said, “allows the tenant sufficient time to find alternative accommodation”, while they also carry out a homeless assessment to determine the tenant’s eligibility for the HHAP payment.