Simon: Budget 2027 must raise Hap limits as use of the housing scheme falls

File picture: Brian Lawless/PA

No properties were available to rent within a welfare scheme in areas outside Dublin or Kildare in June, according to a housing charity’s analysis.

The Simon Communities of Ireland (SCI) also found that just 20 properties were available to rent under Housing Assistance Payment (Hap) scheme limits in 16 areas that were surveyed in June.

The Hap scheme is a social housing payment made to landlords by local authorities, where tenants pay a contribution to their local authority. To avail of it, the landlord’s rent must be within the limits for the household type and local authority area.

The quarterly Locked Out of the Market Report by SCI indicates that just 20 properties were available to rent within any of the Hap limits across three dates in June.

The report found that 1,303 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over the three dates surveyed in June. This is an increase of 22% since March this year, and of 33% since March 2025.

This is the second such report since a series of rent reforms came into force in March, where a cap on rents in some areas was replaced with a nationwide rent cap that allows landlords to raise rents beyond the limit of a maximum of 2% to match the market rate when newly introduced six-year tenancies end.

Cork, Dundalk, Sligo see fall in Hap properties

Three of the 16 areas examined in the SCI report saw a reduction in the number of Hap properties available since their last report in March.

These include Cork city centre, Dundalk, and Sligo Town, which all saw a reduction of one property each.

The supply of properties within Hap limits continues to mainly be located in the Dublin area.

Read More about #Homelessness

Of 20 available Hap properties, 17 were in three Dublin study areas, and only one of the 13 study areas outside of Dublin had properties available to rent within Hap limits — that being Kildare, which had three properties.

Executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, Ber Grogan, said: “The Simon Communities of Ireland has published the Locked Out of the Market Report for over 10 years, and our message has remained the same — the Hap system needs reform.

“It is almost one year since the minister confirmed that a review of Hap was under way, yet we are still no clearer on its findings or recommendations.

'Budget 2027 should raise Hap limits'

“Will Budget 2027 finally deliver the long-awaited increase to Hap limits?

“The quarter one 2026 Homeless Progress Report showed that Hap was used less than in the same period last year, either as a homelessness prevention measure or as an exit from homelessness.

“Hap is not working. People are still locked out of the market. We see and hear this on the ground every single day, across the country. People are being discriminated against.

“There is one short-term solution that would make an immediate difference — increase the Hap limits.”

Read More about #Housing