Just 33 rental properties in 16 areas of the State were available to rent under the housing assistance payment (Hap) system in October, according to the Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report.
The organisation’s latest assessment found 1,119 properties were available at any price in the areas surveyed on three separate days in October, a 5 per cent fall since June. However for those reliant on Hap payments the news was much bleaker with the number of qualifying properties falling by 10, a 23 per cent decline over the same period.
In 12 of the 16 areas tracked, there were no properties available to rent within standard or discretionary Hap limits, with acute shortages found in cities including Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford
The report is based on rental properties available on three dates in October in Cork city centre, Cork city suburbs, Dublin city centre, Dublin city north, Dublin city south, Galway city centre, Galway city suburbs, Limerick city centre, Limerick city suburbs, Portlaoise, parts of Co Kildare, Athlone, Sligo town, Dundalk, Co Leitrim, and Waterford city centre.
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To qualify for Hap a household must qualify for social housing and have incomes below specific limits. Rental limits are set by individual councils and for a couple with two children renting within Dublin City Council’s jurisdiction the maximum is €1,250 per month, while in Co Leitrim, the limit is €475. The limits set by the respective local authorities for a couple without children renting a property is €900 in Dublin city and €370 in Leitrim.
Councils can also grant a discretionary rate of Hap amounting to 35 per cent extra on top of the standard rate, or up to 50 per cent in Dublin city.
Just three properties were available within standard Hap limits across the 16 areas with only two available to single person/couple households through the standard Hap rate.
There were no properties available to couple/one-parent households with one child through a standard Hap rate and one property available to couple/one-parent households with two children through the standard Hap rate.
“For those reliant on a Hap payment there are very few opportunities to secure a home unless you have additional income to top up the payment,” said Simon Communities executive director Wayne Stanley
He noted that chronic shortages saw families and individuals “having to stay longer and longer in homelessness”.
“We are all witnessing the consequences in the monthly growth in the number of men, women and children in homeless emergency accommodation. The answers to this are there and spelled out in the recent Housing Commission report and in our own submissions to all political parties to deliver more public housing.”
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