Only 33 rental properties available to rent in Ireland under Hap

There were 1,149 properties to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed — a 28% (248 properties) increase from the 901 properties available in the September 2023 Locked Out report. File picture

No homes are available to rent through the government’s Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme in more than half of areas across the country.

Only 33 HAP rental properties were available in total — an increase of six homes since September 2023 — according to the Simon Communities. 

No HAP homes were available in nine of the 16 areas surveyed, Cork City Suburbs, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Galway City Centre, Kildare, Leitrim, Sligo Town, Athlone and Portlaoise.

The findings were revealed in Simon Communities’ Locked Out of the Market report, which looked at rental home availability over three days in December 2023. It examined the experience of people on low income and dependent on HAP social housing support payments which are used to help people with a housing need pay rent for homes in the private market.

Only two properties — both in Cork City Centre — were available within standard HAP rates. Local authorities can make discretionary top-up payments if rental properties cannot be found on the standard rates.

No private rental properties were available for single people within the standard HAP limits although 10 properties were available for single persons/couples through discretionary HAP rates. 

There were 1,149 properties to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed — a 28% (248 properties) increase from the 901 properties available in the September 2023 Locked Out report. Just 3% of all rented homes in this study were available through HAP.

Portlaoise had the lowest number of properties available to rent with just one property available across the three days. 

Wayne Stanley, Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said that the Locked Out reports continue to show the dearth of options for those experiencing homelessness in the private rental market. File photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Although the number of properties available to rent increased since the September Locked Out report, four of the 16 study areas (Kildare, Leitrim, Portlaoise and Waterford City Centre) saw a reduction in properties available to rent. 

Wayne Stanley, Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said that the Locked Out reports continue to show the dearth of options for those experiencing homelessness in the private rental market. 

"While there was a small increase in availability in December 2023, it is clear the private rental market is not a sustainable option for the vast majority of people experiencing homelessness. The solution is well understood; it is more social housing," he said.

"In the short term, the minister could increase the HAP rates to ensure that more properties become a viable option on a HAP payment." 

Homeless refugees

Meanwhile, a warning that someone may die on the streets has been issued by the Irish Refugee Council as more than 600 asylum seekers are currently without accommodation in sub-zero temperatures.

Some international protectants are "desperate and cold" and have faced hostility while sleeping rough and moving around the city with one person saying his tent was stolen, while another was assaulted.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Integration, the number of asylum seekers without State-provided accommodation is 601.

It is the first time that this number has passed the 600 mark since Direct Provision was set up in 2000.

A spokesperson for the IRC said it is “unsafe and unjustifiable to have people sleeping outside in sub-zero temperatures.”