The number of homes available to rent on the State’s main social housing support scheme has fallen again, according to a new report.
There were only 41 properties available to rent within the discretionary rate of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme across the country over the three-day period surveyed by the Simon Communities of Ireland in March.
This is a decrease of five properties (down 11 per cent) since December 2024. and represents 4 per cent of the total properties examined in the study.
The homelessness charity’s Locked Out of the Market report is released every quarter, and examines the experience of people on a low income and dependent on HAP to access housing in the private rental market.
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The HAP scheme is provided by local authorities to people on their social housing list. Those approved for HAP must find a property on the private rental market that is within HAP rent limits of their local authority. Local authorities have the flexibility to go above the HAP rent limits by up to 35 per cent if the tenant can’t find accommodation within the limits. This discretionary rate goes up to 50 per cent in Dublin under the Homeless HAP scheme.
However, despite this flexibility the latest report published on Thursday shows a dearth of rental supply within those discretionary limits.
The report found 1,119 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over the three dates surveyed. This is a 9 per cent reduction from the 1,123 properties available in the December 2024 Locked Out report, and a 5 per cent reduction from the 1,180 properties available in March 2024.
Some 72 per cent (805) of the properties available to rent at any price were in the three Dublin areas studied. Sligo town and Portlaoise had the lowest number of places available to rent, with just five and two properties available in each area.
There were properties available within HAP limits in just six of the 16 study areas – this compares to eight in the previous report.
There were no properties available to rent within HAP limits in Athlone, Cork city centre, Cork city suburbs, Galway city centre, Co Leitrim, Limerick city suburbs, Limerick city centre, Sligo town, Portlaoise, and Waterford city centre.
The supply of properties within HAP limits was predominantly found in Dublin; 31 (76 per cent) of the 41 HAP properties were found across the three Dublin study areas.
Just three of the 13 study areas outside of Dublin had properties available to rent within HAP limits. These included Dundalk (three properties), Galway city suburbs (one property), and Kildare (five properties).
Ber Grogan, executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the report highlighted “the deepening crisis in Ireland’s private rental sector”.
“Outside of Dublin HAP tenants face an uphill struggle with little to no access to suitable or affordable homes, with discretionary limits proving insufficient to meet current rental prices. This leaves families and individuals with impossible choices: remain in emergency accommodation, face prolonged experiences of homelessness, or take on unaffordable rents in an unstable private rental market.
“We urgently need increased supply of affordable and secure housing. Targeted action is required now to prevent further homelessness and ensure people can access and sustain a home. It beggars belief to think that rent pressure zones could be scrapped at the end of this year,” Ms Grogan said.
