Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a new social housing support, which has replaced Rent Supplement for those with a long term housing need. However you do not need to be in receipt of Rent Supplement to be deemed eligible to receive HAP.
Short Term rent supplement will continue to be managed by the Department of Social Protection.
How does HAP work?
- To qualify for HAP, a household must be qualified for social housing support by their local authority, which means the household must qualify to go on the local authority housing waiting list.
- HAP tenants must find their own accommodation in the private rented market. (This is the same as the current Rent Supplement scheme.)
- The landlord must agree to rent their property to the HAP tenant.
- The local authority will make a monthly payment to the landlord. This payment is made on the last Wednesday of each month. The payment is subject to terms and conditions and that the HAP tenant pays their rent contribution to the local authority.
- Rent contributions will generally be made through An Post’s Household Budget Scheme. If the HAP tenant does not pay this rent contribution, HAP payments to their landlord will be suspended and eventually stopped. The HAP tenant is then responsible for paying the full rent themselves.
- You will pay a weekly HAP rent contribution to the local authority, based on your household’s weekly income. You are obliged to notify the local authority of any changes in your income or household size immediately.
- If you take up a job or increase your working hours, you will still be eligible for HAP if you fulfil the other conditions of the scheme. (This is different from the rules that apply to Rent Supplement.)
Tenant HAP Process:
Step 1. HAP Eligibility Assessment. Tenant must submit all information requested on the 
hap_eligibility_checklist.pdf and include the requested documentation including a hpl1_form_new.pdf (Incomplete HAP Eligibility Applications will not be accepted.)
Step 2. Once Approved as eligible, we will post to you a letter explaining the rent band you will be placed in along with a HAP application form. "Part A" of the HAP Application form is to be filled out by the tenant and "Part B" of the HAP Application form is to be filled out by the Landlord.
Step 3. Once you receive confirmation by us as to your eligibility to apply for HAP, you can now approach a landlord regarding any property you might be interested in. Once you find a property you need to make sure all sections (A+B) of the HAP Application form including any requested documents are present before submitting to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council HAP Section. We will not accept incomplete HAP Application Forms.
(Note. Section B of the HAP Application Form must to be filled out by your landlord and can be submitted separately by your landlord should they wish to do so.)
Step 4. HAP Validation. Once we have received a complete HAP Application form, (Sections A+B) Your application will be validated and processed.
Step 5. Once the application has been validated, the applicant will be invited by phone to attend a meeting with a HAP officer to sign a Rent Contribution form and a Letter of Transfer form
(The letter of transfer form is your agreement to be moved to the HAP transfer list. Your priority on this list will take account of the time you have already spent on the Councils housing list prior to entering HAP. You do not lose your time by moving to the HAP transfer list)
