Family awarded €14k in HAP discrimination case
Threshold has welcomed a €14,000 award to a Munster-based family of six after they were discriminated against on the grounds of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), but said more decisions might be required to force landlords to comply with the law.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) made the ruling after Threshold had lodged a complaint with it and with the Residential Tenancies Board after the landlord served the family with a notice of termination.
The family, which includes four children, had been paying €950 a month. The mother was working in the home and the father outside it and they were struggling to meet the rent. Threshold wrote to the landlord on their behalf and outlined the obligations to accept HAP.
While the WRC granted the award to the family, they still lost the tenancy and vacated the property in July. The award reflects the fact that they had repaired and furnished the house and, due to their swift departure, left some furniture behind.
Threshold chief executive John-Mark McCafferty said: “I think there needs to be a couple more [awards] of that magnitude to send a sufficient warning shot across the bows of errant landlords.”
He said Threshold has received an increased number of complaints in relation to HAP and to the failure of some landlords to respect rent pressure zone legislation.
We will have more and more of these cases,” said Mr McCafferty. “Rents will be increasing for some time yet.
He also said that in some cases landlords may carry out a kind of “cost-benefit analysis” when it comes to refusing HAP, figuring that even if a case is brought against them, if they bring in new tenants at a higher rent they will recoup any money paid out in penalties.
