Cost Rental housing offers affordable long-term, secure rented accommodation. The rent you pay is based on the cost of building, managing, and maintaining the homes. The rent for Cost Rental homes is at least 25% below regular market rents in the area.
Cost rental homes are aimed at people on moderate incomes who may experience financial difficulty accessing housing or meeting the on-going cost of accommodation but who don’t meet the income criteria for social housing support.
- Am I eligible?
- How do I find out about Cost Rental Schemes?
- How Do I apply?
- How are Cost Rental Homes let?
- What documentation will I need to apply?
- How much will I pay?
- What size property is considered suitable for my household size?
- Can I add my name to a Cost Rental waiting list?
- Can I apply multiple times?
- Do you have to live in the area to apply for a Cost Rental property?
What if my circumstances change after I’ve been allocated a property?
Am I eligible?
You may be eligible for Cost Rental if:
- Your net household income is below €66,000 per annum
- Your household is not in receipt of any social housing support payments, e.g. Rent Supplement or Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)
- You do not own a property
- Your household size matches the size of the property advertised. For example, a two-bed unit may be suitable for two adults, a couple, or lone parent with 1 or more children.
- You can afford to pay the rent for the home
- Your household has only applied once for a specific Cost Rental home
An affordability test will be carried out to ensure the rent charged is in the range of 35% of your net household income. If it is higher, the cost rental provider may give you an option to provide evidence that based on your current income, you have paid the same rent or higher for the previous two years. The provider will need to see that you have not defaulted in paying this rent.
How do I find out about Cost Rental Schemes?
Cost Rental homes will be advertised online as they become available and in line with Government Regulations.
How Do I apply?
Once a Cost Rental development is advertised, an opening and closing date will be confirmed. Cost Rental applications will be accepted via an online platform.
How are Cost Rental Homes let?
To make sure that Cost Rental homes are let in the fairest and most transparent manner possible, they are let through a lottery system. The lottery will create a random list of all applicants. Once the advertisement period of the scheme has closed, a date to run the lottery will be set. The lottery is monitored by a third-party and a full audit trail is kept of each draw.
Following the lottery, successful applicants will be contacted. You will be required to pay a deposit equal to one month’s rent less €50. You will sign a Tenancy Agreement with the provider of the home, and you will be able to move in on a date set by them.
What documentation will I need to apply?
You do not need to upload your documentation at registration stage.
Applicants successful in the lottery will be asked to document their Net Income calculation as part of the information required to move to the next phase. Affordability is based on the rent being no more than 35% of your Net Income. Applicants will also be requested to upload the below supporting documents, as evidence that they are eligible for Cost Rental Housing and will have 72 hours to complete this process after which time the offer will be revoked and the property offered to the next person drawn from the lottery.
- Proof of ID for each household member,
- Proof of address,
- Proof of residency,
- Proof of income for all members of the household over 18,
- Employer reference for all members of the household over 18,
- Bank statements for all members of the household over 18,
- Landlord reference for all members of the household over 18. If you have not rented previously, you may be required to provide additional information including a character reference and evidence of a track record of savings or contribution to household expenses.
How much will I pay?
The rent you pay will vary depending on the Cost Rental development. Your rent will be at least 25% below private market rents in the area of the development. Initial rents for Cost Rental tenancies are set based on the calculations of the costs of providing the homes over 40 years. Your Cost Rental tenancy agreement may include information about how often your rent will be reviewed. However, the rent cannot be reviewed within 12 months of the start of the tenancy and not more than once every 12 months after that. You will get notice of a rent review and this notice will contain specific information about the new rent. If you have a dispute about the new rent, you can bring this to the Residential Tenancies Board within 28 days of getting the rent review notice.
What size property is considered suitable for my household size?
The following are examples of what size homes may be considered as suitable for various household sizes:
- One-bed property – suitable for a single person or cohabiting couple.
- Two-bed property – suitable for two adults or cohabiting couple/lone parent with 1 or more children.
- Three-bed property – suitable for three adults or cohabiting couple/ lone parent with 2 or more children.
- Four-bed property – suitable for four adults or cohabiting couple/lone parent with 3 or more children
Can I add my name to a Cost Rental waiting list?
No. Each Cost Rental development is advertised separately. You can apply once a development is advertised and you can only make one application per Cost Rental scheme.
Can I apply multiple times?
No, only one application per household per development is permitted. However, if you have been unsuccessful, you can apply to the next Cost Rental development advertised. If your household applies multiple times for one development, you may be disqualified from entering into the lottery phase.
Do you have to live in the area to apply for a Cost Rental property?
No, you do not have to live local to where the Cost Rental scheme is.
Are Cost Rental, Affordable Homes furnished?
Individual properties are unfurnished to allow residents to furnish them according to their own taste and to provide below market rents.
What if my circumstances change after I’ve been allocated a property?
Applications are assessed at point of entry. If, for example, after you’ve been allocated a property your household income increased above €59,000 outside Dublin and above €66,000 within Dublin, you would still be entitled to continue renting the property.
The Application Process
Step 1.
Check back here for the application link when applications open
Step 2
If successful, you will receive a further email letting you know that you have progressed to the next screening and verification stage.
Step 3
- If required, you may be asked to submit further information or documentation to support your application.
- Once your application has been fully reviewed, you will receive a notification to let you know whether your application has been progressed to the next stage.
Step 4
- You will then be invited to view your allocated apartment, select a move in date and start the process of making deposit payment, first rental payment and executing your new lease agreement.
- Once approved, typically you can expect to move into your new home within 4/5/6 weeks.
And remember…
- Applicants will be required to submit supporting documentation to evidence affordability. Only one application per household is permitted. Anyone or any household applying multiple times will be disqualified from the allocation process.
- You must include all members of your household when completing your online application. If you do not include all members of your household, you will be deemed ineligible.
- And finally, being drawn from the lottery/process is not an offer of accommodation; you must submit all documentation within the required timeframe, you must meet all criteria before being assessed and considered and no contract will be in place until a lease is executed in full.
How does the lottery work?
The unit allocation process is conducted once the advertising of the properties has ceased. This is operated by a third party with a full audit trail for transparency. The lottery will create, at random, a list of all applicants and applicants are contacted from the top of the list and invited to submit their documents within 72 hours.
Useful links:
About | Cost Rental Scheme | Affordable Homes Ireland