The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Sarah Kate Mcconnell €4,800 after finding that Horan Estates discriminated against her on the housing assistance ground. The decision was dated 17 December 2019.
Mcconnell said she paid rent and a deposit for a property, then told the letting agent she wished to use the Housing Assistance Payment scheme, or HAP. After collecting the keys, she found the property uninhabitable and did not move in. She said the landlord later changed his mind about renting to her because he would not accept HAP. She returned the keys and received her deposit back, but not the rent she had paid.
Horan Estates did not attend the hearing. The adjudication officer found the letting agent was a service provider in its own right and that the lease termination directly followed Mcconnell’s HAP application. The officer found the agent accountable for unlawful discrimination under the Equal Status Acts. The award was equivalent to six months’ rent. In setting it, the officer noted that Mcconnell quickly found alternative accommodation and had not fully moved into the property, while also recognising the serious inconvenience she experienced.