Social services experience issues with rent subsidies

Approximately 80% of eligible individuals fail to apply for aid, largely due to the complexities and extensive delays involved in the process. Social services highlight the additional challenges posed by re-calculations.

Currently, applicants for rent subsidies face waiting times of four to six months to receive a response. Despite these delays, they must renew their requests annually.

"We get the impression from social services that these services are overwhelmed by the number of demands;  they cannot stay on top of the queue," says Marc Josse, director of the Esch social services office.

Applicants must also share any updates on their situation. If their aid entitlement changes, they must repay any excesses before any new subsidies are paid out. This often leads to difficult situations for applicants. Social services supplied RTL with anonymous examples to shed light on people's struggles.

"A couple with two children receives social inclusion income (Revis) and rent subsidies. The husband works full-time in public utility work (TUC), while the wife began a similar part-time role in January 2023. They applied for rent subsidies in July 2023 but received no response. After the social worker followed up in August, they were informed the file was complete and would receive a reply soon. However, it wasn't until eight months later, in March 2024, that they received a letter stating their rent subsidy had been discontinued since 1 August, 2023."

"Another couple with three children was eligible for the social inclusion income and rent subsidies in 2021. The year after, their financial situation improved somewhat, the husband started part-time work, and several months later, so did his wife. By 2023, both were working 30 hours per week. In February of the same year, they were notified that their rent subsidy would cease, and they appealed the decision. A year later, in spring 2024, they were told they needed to repay subsidies dating from March to December 2022 - a sum of around €3,700."

"A family with two children, with the father working full-time, receives social inclusion income and rent aid. In 2023, the mother worked part-time for 5 months, causing them to lose eligibility for Revis. Instead, she qualified for an activation benefit under a temporary program. The rent subsidy was recalculated, which meant the family received a surplus of €1,700 during the time when the mother was employed. Through her TUC work, the mother only earned €1,160 more than she would have received on social inclusion income. So the family essentially lost money as they had to pay back €1,800 to the housing ministry."

Both social workers and applicants say they frequently receive impolite answers when chasing up their queries. Many people are only just receiving recalculations now for subsidies dating back to 2022. Although they can theoretically anticipate the costs of the repayments using online tools, not everyone is able to work this out, says Josse.

"It's important to keep in mind that we are all human and fallible; sometimes we will forget things, especially when we experience a particularly difficult situation. It's not intentional."

As a result, these households are then made to pay back thousands of euros at once.

"In reality though, this is virtually impossible for many people. Many households struggle to make ends meet each month, and often fall into negative figures at the end of the month. I see so many calculations for these people seeking aid, and it's impossible."

What solutions do social services propose?
 
The system must change in order to prevent people from being overpaid and then having to pay back what they received, says Josse.

He adds: "We should instead use a system that calculates the months owed and issues the new sum, including the subtraction of the difference, instead of demanding a repayment in one go."

Generally though, it would be ideal if all subsidies for low-income people would be centralised at the National Solidarity Fund, therefore all being comprehensively paid at once.

In February, the Chamber of Employees published a study addressing the issue of why people fail to receive timely rent subsidies and other government aid when their circumstances change. The report highlighted various challenges faced by low-income households and proposed potential solutions.