Homeowners can earn up to €14,000 a year tax-free by renting a room to students without it impacting their medical card or their social welfare, according to Monaghan Senator Robbie Gallagher.
Senator Gallagher says that the exemption comes as a welcome relief to students searching for accommodation for the upcoming academic year.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Senator Gallagher said: "For someone in receipt of a means-tested social welfare payment to rent a room in their own home and have the rental income disregarded, to a limit of €14,000. The measure is being extended until 2027.
"This measure extends a relief, similar to that available to income tax payers, to people in receipt of social welfare payments to make rooms available in their homes. It provides a small but valuable contribution in what continues to be a very tight accommodation market and will help to ensure more rooms are available in homes across the country are freed up for potential tenants.
"We often hear from parents who are struggling to find rooms for their children going to college. Many widows and widowers, for example, may have been willing to rent out their room but didn’t, for fear of losing their medical card or their social welfare payment. That fear has now been alleviated. This will help ease the pressure over the summer months when students are searching for rooms to rent.
"For years renting ‘digs’ has been a major part of college life. The Rent-a-Room scheme incentivises this option, and pensioners who would like to rent a room to students can now be reassured that their medical card will not be affected."
