Tenants in council houses will now be able to earn up to €14,000 a year as part of the expansion of a room rental scheme.
First introduced in the early-2000s, the rent-a-room scheme allows homeowners who rent out a spare room to private tenants to earn up to €14,000 a year. This works out at up to €269.23 per week and it is all tax-free.
Previously, those who were living in council housing were exempt, however, in their latest attempt to tackle the housing crisis, the Government has now agreed to extend the scheme to extend the scheme to council tenants.
READ MORE: How to apply for new €500 rent relief announced in Budget 2023
Currently, around 140,000 housing units are owned by local authorities across the country and up to 28,000 are "under-occupied", this could mean that they are elderly people living alone.
Previously speaking about the scheme, Denis Naughten TD said the scheme would provide "security and peace of mind" for an older person.
He said: “Having another person in the spare room also provides an overnight presence in the home for security and peace of mind for an older person, and I hope that community groups, active retirement groups, and not-for-profit organisations can now embrace this new incentive by assisting older people in selecting a suitable tenant."
Speaking to Dublin Live, a spokesman for the Department of Housing explained: "On March 21, 2023, Government agreed to extend the Rent a Room scheme disregard for social welfare recipients and extend the disregard into medical card criteria from May 1, 2023 and allow local authority tenancies to access the scheme.
"Under the current Rent-a-Room scheme, property owners can rent out rooms in their houses and apartments for €14,000 tax-free per year.
"The Department of Housing is now working with the County and City Management Association (CCMA) to put in place the appropriate legal and administrative arrangements that will allow local authority tenants to rent out vacant rooms."
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