From the 1st of June there has been an 8% reduction in the amount of rent allowance (also called / refer to as rent supplement) being paid. Most recipients were notified by their local health board a week in advance. The letter also suggests contacting your landlord to notify them of a decrease in the payment and goes on to suggest that tenants could re-negotiate ... rents with their landlords in this light.
How feasible is this for tenants? Most tenants have a lease agreement that sets out an agreed rent. Rents are actually falling across the country but where does this leave tenants who are mid-lease? Landlords surely need to be open to change given the current circumstances. They may find themselves with no tenants once the lease is up and their tenants find a similar but cheaper place to rent. As part of these new expenditure saving measures, the minimum contribution that tenants must make has also risen from €18 to €24 per week.
