A Sligo councillor wants to know why some estate agents and auctioneers will not accept housing tenants who are on on the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme, known as HAP.
The payment is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need.
HAP is to replace the long-term Rent Supplement.
The HAP scheme aims to allow all social housing supports to be accessed through one body – the local authority – and to enable people to take up full-time employment and keep their housing support.
But Independent Councillor Gino O’Boyle believes there is a reluctance among some people rent to people on welfare, such as those on the HAP Scheme.
Speaking to Ocean FM News, he says that in some cases, auctioneers and estate agents do not directly refuse a tenant but hold out until they get another who is not on HAP but are paying through their own means.
