Housing & Planning

Half of renters receiving HAP find it ‘increasingly difficult to secure’ suitable accommodation

Findings from latest Simon Communities survey are ‘stark’ and show ‘little to no improvement’ compared with previous reports, charity’s interim executive director says

Tony Geoghegan, interim executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Tony Geoghegan, interim executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Sarah Slater
Tue Jan 28 2025 - 06:00

Renters receiving the housing assistance payment (HAP) are finding it “increasingly difficult to secure” suitable accommodation, a homelessness services survey has found.

Half of the 16 HAP scheme areas had no properties available to rent, the Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report, from December last year shows, while a mere 46 properties were available to rent within the discretionary rate of the HAP scheme.

The report found 1,233 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over three dates surveyed last month. This is a 7 per cent increase from the 1,149 properties available in the December 2023 Locked Out report.

The eight areas with no HAP properties were Athlone, Cork city centre, Galway city centre, Co Leitrim, Limerick city suburbs, Limerick city centre, Sligo town and Portlaoise, Co Laois.

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As seen in many previous reports by the homelessness service, the supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin. Thirty-seven or 76 per cent of the total 46 properties were found in Dublin – the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50 per cent on the standard rate, while this is limited to 35 per cent elsewhere in the country.

The remaining HAP properties were found in Cork city suburbs which had one property, the same in Dundalk and Galway city suburbs. Kildare had four properties while Waterford city centre had two properties.

With regard to the lowest number of properties to be found nationwide, Portlaoise was found to be the worst with just three properties available across the three days surveyed.

Two of the 16 study areas saw a reduction in the number of properties available to rent, which were Athlone, with two, and Cork city suburbs, with seven.

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Thirteen of the 16 areas saw an increase in the number of properties available to rent. These included Cork city centre, Dublin city north, Dublin city south, Dublin city centre, Dundalk, Galway city suburbs, Galway city centre, Kildare, Co Leitrim, Limerick city suburbs, Limerick city centre, Sligo town and Waterford city centre.

Tony Geoghegan, interim executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the findings from the latest report were “stark,” as they showed “little to no improvement” compared with previous reports.

Mr Geoghegan explained that the “trend is clear” in that HAP recipients are finding it “increasingly difficult to secure” suitable accommodation.

“Outside of Dublin is certainly a bigger challenge, with no properties available in eight of the 16 areas studied. While the new programme for government’s commitment to increased housing targets is hugely welcome, in the meantime we must prevent more people becoming homeless and also support people who are currently homeless to exit homelessness,” he continued.

“In the past, the private rented sector was one of the main avenues for people to exit homelessness. However, this is no longer the case. If the new Government is serious in addressing homelessness, then a dedicated homeless prevention strategy, that includes a strategy for managing the private rented sector, is urgently required.”