Housing Assistance Payment

Under HAP Meath County Council will make the full rent payment on behalf of HAP recipients directly to their landlord. The HAP recipient will then pay a rent contribution to Meath County Council. The rent contribution paid by tenants is based on their income and ability to pay.

Apply Online for Housing Assistance Payment

The online portal is live from Wednesday, 3rd April for Meath County Council applicants. This will mean that any person who is qualified for Social Housing and wishing to apply for HAP can do so online.

An online application ensures that all the required information is submitted at the time of application including all necessary documents. This results in applications and documents being dealt with in a timely and efficient manner.

Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a social housing support for those with a long-term housing need.

Applicants for HAP must be on their Local Authority’s Housing waiting list before they can complete the online application form – a valid Social Housing number is required for the application.

Please read the following advice regarding HAP tenancies:

Ensure you are on the Council’s housing list
Ensure your family details are up to date
Under Placefinder, ensure you have been previous approved
The possibility of local authority staffing levels being reduced may lead to delays in rent amounts being amended, but this won’t affect the HAP
payment to landlords.

Am I eligible to apply?

To apply for HAP you must be qualified for social housing support, see how to qualify for social housing support.

You must be approved for social housing support before you can apply online.

How it works?

If you are eligible as an approved housing applicant, you must find your own private rented accommodation (within specific rent caps and market rents).

We will pay the landlord directly and the tenant will pay a rent to us based on the Meath County Council differential rent scheme.

The rent will be based on your weekly household income and your family composition applicable and works in a similar way to the differential rents charged for local authority houses.

Please note:

We do not pay deposits for properties rented under the HAP scheme.
HAP do not pay arrears; you will have to pay the rent until your HAP payments commences.

What accommodation is eligible?

Accommodation should be within the HAP rent limits. These limits are based on your household and the rental market in your area. Meath County Council will let you know what the rent limits are.

Your tenancy agreement will be, between you and your landlord. Meath County Council is not your landlord. Your landlord is the person you make the rental agreement with and who the local authority pays the HAP payment to.

For more information please see the Tenant & Landlord documents in the supporting documents below.

Placefinder Applicants

If you are eligible for standard HAP under the above conditions and are currently homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, you may be eligible for Placefinder support.

You must be assessed and approved for this support by the Homeless Team before you can apply for Placefinder HAP support. HAP Placefinder are not using the online portal at present so if you have been approved for Placefinder support and have found a property, please first contact the Placefinder team for pre-approval. You can do so at placefinder@meathcoco.ie.

If the tenancy is approved in principle by the Placefinder team, please then submit your paper application to the Placefinder department. The HAP tenancy terms and conditions outlined above and advised on Hap.ie website apply to Placefinder tenants.

You can contact the Homeless team by email : homeless@meathcoco.ie