RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Rental Assistance Program provides direct cash assistance to low-income working families who spend more than 30 per cent of their gross household income on rent in the private market.

A household may be eligible if:

· They have one or more dependent children under the age of 19;

· The gross family income is $28,000 or lower, and they have less than $10,000 in assets;

· Some or all of their annual income comes from employment;

· They have lived in British Columbia for the full 12 months immediately preceding the date of application;

· No family members are receiving income assistance under the B.C. Employment and Assistance Act (excluding the Medical Services Plan); and,

· Citizenship requirements are met for the program.

Households receive a portion of the difference between 30 per cent of income and the rent paid, up to the rent ceiling level identified for the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), or outside the GVRD. The rent ceiling level used to calculate the assistance is increasing effective March 1, 2007 for areas outside the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Household Size	GVRD	Outside GVRD
Family of 3 or fewer	$825	$700
Family of 4 or more	$875	$730

Recipients will receive more assistance as a result of another change to the way the assistance is calculated. Assistance is calculated as a percentage of the difference between 30 per cent of total family income and the rent paid, subject to the maximum rent ceilings. This percentage is based on a “sliding scale” that gives the most assistance to people with the least income. Previously, the “sliding scale” ranged from 25-50 percent. Now, that scale will range from 35-90 per cent, resulting in increased levels of assistance for all eligible recipients.

Current recipients will automatically have the increase calculated beginning with their March 2007 payment. There is no need for them to re-apply.

A Rental Assistance Program calculator is available at:

www.bchousing.org/programs/RAP/calculation

This calculator provides an estimated subsidy only. The actual subsidy that a family may be eligible to receive will be confirmed once an application form has been received.

Examples of estimated increases for current recipients as a result of the calculation change:

GVRD Households
Family Size	Rent ($)	Annual Income ($)	Previous Benefit ($)	New Benefit ($)	Increase ($)
3 or less	750	12,000	202.50	377.50	175.00
3 or less	825	14,500	179.22	352.66	173.44
4 or more	840	14,500	185.03	364.10	179.07
4 or more	875	16,500	156.09	324.39	168.30

Households Outside the GVRD
Family Size	Rent ($)	Annual Income ($)	Previous Benefit ($)	New Benefit ($)	Increase ($)
3 or less	650	12,000	157.50	293.61	136.11
3 or less	700	14,500	121.09	238.28	117.19
4 or more	700	14,500	130.78	257.35	126.57
4 or more	730	16,500	98.72	201.65	102.93

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Media contact:	Sam Rainboth Manager, Public Affairs BC Housing 604 439-4789

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.