A freeze in the maximum amount of rent low-income people can pay for accommodation without losing their entitlement to state subsidies could lead to increased homelessness, a union representing welfare workers has warned.
IMPACT, which represents community welfare officers, says the effective capping of Rent Supplement at current levels will make it much more difficult for people living in major urban areas to find suitable rented accommodation.
New regulations brought in by the Department of Social and Family Affairs state that the maximum rent a single person on social welfare benefits can incur in the Dublin area and still qualify for Rent Supplement from their health board is €107 per week.
If a person can only find accommodation for more than this amount, he or she will forfeit their entitlement to Rent Supplement, which provides for some 90 per cent of the rent bill.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, has said the regulations were made because there were suspicions that landlords had been increasing rents in response to the maximum rent limits set by health boards annually. This had the effect of making the rent limits set by boards the "going rent" for the market, she said. There were also concerns that community welfare officers were consistently not adhering to the levels set by their boards.
However, Mr Stone, the chair of the Community Welfare Officers' national vocational group, said health board rates for rent supplement were set in response to market conditions, not the other way around.
He said the levels which have now been frozen until December 2003 were set much earlier this year.
"My clients, who trying to find accommodation, are already finding it difficult to meet the €107 level," he said. "It could lead to homelessness if a person is living in accommodation and the landlord decides to increase the rent. The client may no longer be able to afford the additional amount of money." Of the 52,415 people claiming Rent Supplement, 30,745 are single people.
One community welfare officer outside Dublin, who did not wish to be named, described the move as a "massive retrograde step". He said there has been a discretion for people who found accommodation priced above the upper limit to make up the remainder on their own or with the help of relatives. The new regulations, however, would be more restrictive, tying people to the cheapest end of the accommodation market, he added.
The Department of Social and Family Affairs said figures from the Central Statistics Office show that rents had not increased in the past 12 months. A spokeswoman said the current rent supplement rates had been determined by the health boards, adding that someone claiming the benefit can earn up to €50 a week without their entitlement being affected.
Exceptional circumstances would still be provided for, she added.