HAP landlords left ‘out on limb’ when tenants default

Claims that private landlords are being left alone to deal with the consequences when Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme tenants default on their rent were made by several councillors during the major housing debate at last week’s meeting of Westmeath County Council.

Councillors expressed concern that landlords will become less prepared to accept HAP tenants unless a mechanism is found to protect them against tenants who stop paying rent.

The question of what happens if tenants engage in anti-social behaviour was raised as an issue by Cllr Frankie Keena, who said that while there might be systems in place to deal with problem tenants in social housing accommodation, in the case of those on the HAP or RAS schemes, this is not the situation, and in many cases, landlords were being left out on a limb.

Similar concerns were voiced by Cllr Vinny McCormack, who explained that where a tenant ceases to make his or her contribution to the council under the HAP scheme, the council then cuts off the HAP support.

“This leaves the landlord with no income for their property and a council tenant effectively squatting in their property,” said Cllr McCormack, adding that at that point, it appears that the council absolves itself from all responsibility and leaves the landlord to fight the battle alone.

“I think we need to show some level of support to landlord who find themselves in this position and I think that we should certainly look into finding ways where if a tenant is not paying their rent to the council, then the HAP payment that was going to the tenant previously goes directly to the landlord while that tenant is in the property.

“We can’t have a situation where these people are basically accommodating our clients in their properties and we are leaving them high and dry with no income for the property,” he stated.

Support came from Cllr Andrew Duncan, who said that for the last 15 years or more, the country has been relying on private sector landlords – most of whom only have one rental property which they bought to provide themselves with a pension.

Rents are now around double what they were seven or eight years ago, and landlords can get higher rents from private renters than from tenants on HAP. He pointed out that landlords would also be conscious that if difficulties arise, they have to negotiate the “difficult” RTB process.

“We will disenfranchise them if we don’t have some system to make it more attractive for them to work with us,” he said.

Cllr John Dolan agreed: “We have to look after landlords or we won’t get offered houses,” he said.

Cllr Liam McDaniels was concerned that tenants obtaining HAP are not vetted before entering tenancies.

Council cathaoirleach, Cllr Ken Glynn, meanwhile, went on to argue that the income thresholds need to be adjusted on the scheme to facilitate tenants in view of rising rental costs.

Cllr Glynn said that he is not a fan of HAP, and said it had been “sneakily” introduced, with no talk at that time of a differential between the HAP allowance and the rents sought – a gap that tenants are required to make up.

“It’s put so many people under pressure,” he said.

Arguing for an increase in the HAP payment available, Cllr Glynn said that after the hardship of actually finding a house, it was often the case that applicants were then told they could not afford it. He requested that the council write to the minister in relation to the limits.

“Realistically, rents are going up but the HAP limits have stood still, and that is forcing down the chances of people who need a home and who are able to avail of HAP,” he said.

Director of services Mark Keaveney responded that in the case of HAP tenancies, the route for dealing with any issues that arise is via the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

He confirmed to Cllr McDaniels that HAP tenants are not vetted.