‘It’s bizarre’ – Single HAP tenants in Tipperary left ‘worse off’ by scheme
Single people in Tipperary on the Government’s Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme are “financially worse off” than if they were not on it, a local councillor has claimed.
Independent councillor Máirín McGrath said she had been supporting a constituent in the county that is getting a HAP payment towards her accommodation in a shared house, but said that she’d be better off without the payment.
"We know of the struggles of working people who can’t get on the social housing list, but then on the other end, those who are single and getting HAP are finding it very hard because it’s so hard to build and deliver one-bed units,” Cllr McGrath said.
The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a government scheme that helps people on social housing lists pay their rent in the private market.
“I have somebody who’s in a shared house getting a HAP payment and she has gotten a notification from the council that she’s actually financially worse off for being on the HAP scheme as a single person in a shared house.
"She’s also then being told that if she leaves the accommodation, she’ll be taken off the council’s social housing list. I think it’s bizarre,” Cllr McGrath added.
"It’s crazy that a single person, who realistically, is going to wait a long, long time before they get a housing allocation, is in a shared property, getting HAP, and they’re paying more because of it,” she said.
Calling on the local authority to look at the rules around HAP for single people, the independent councillor said she couldn’t believe the situation.
Agreeing, Fine Gael councillor Mary Hanna Hourigan raised a separate case highlighting inconsistencies in how HAP rules are applied.
“I’m trying to figure out our policy around HAP because I’ve been dealing with a single mother of an 18-month-old daughter who was couch surfing and living with various friends in Tipperary town. She then found a one-bedroom apartment, saved the deposit, moved there and was then refused HAP because she should have been going into a two-bedroom property,” Cllr Hourigan said.
“I was told by the HAP officer that she should have been going into a two-bedroom, three-bedroom or four-bedroom property, but she did not qualify for a one-bedroom because she had a child.
"She moved to county Limerick because there was nothing for her in the town, and then the friend she was living with got a notice to quit for this September because the landlord is selling the house. So that person is going to be homeless,” she added.
Cllr Hourigan said that the woman in question was almost penalised for getting herself out of homelessness, asking what the council policy on HAP was.
"She takes herself out of homelessness, she moves across the border and goes into a tiny place, is happy to be there because she’s no longer relying on the support of her friends and she has a bed for her child, and she was refused HAP.
"I’ve sorted that situation since,” Cllr Hourigan said. “Nobody can tell me if that’s national policy or Tipperary County Council policy, but I just couldn't believe the situation,” she added.
In response, Gillian Barry from the council’s housing section said that getting HAP shouldn’t disenfranchise anyone.
"No one should be disenfranchised because of HAP, but we will look at that on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
Vowing to look into the case, Ms Barry said she would work with Cllr McGrath outside the meeting to see what can be done.
Replying to Cllr Hourigan’s issue, Ms Barry said that the definition of under or over-accommodated comes from the Government’s housing act.
"In a small number of cases, we may be able to look at it. For example, if it’s a one-bedroom property and it’s a mother and a baby, I don’t see an issue with that, but if it’s a mother and a teenage son it’s a different story, so we look at it on a case-by-case basis,” she said.