Only 38 houses available to rent through HAP scheme in March

File photo of hoses in Cork

THE NUMBER OF houses available to rent for people accessing the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) stood at 38 nationwide, according to the latest report from the Simon Community.

The group’s Locked Out Of The Market report for March shows this was an increase of five properties since December.

The report found 1,180 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over the three dates assessed in March.

This is a 76% increase (508 properties) from the 672 properties available in the March 2023 Locked Out report.

In 10 of the 16 areas, there were no HAP properties available to rent through the scheme in any household category within standard or discretionary limits.

These were Athlone, Cork city centre, Galway city suburbs, Galway city centre, Co Leitrim, Limerick city suburbs, Limerick city centre, Sligo town, Portlaoise and Waterford city centre.

As seen in many of the previous market reports, the supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin with 32 (84%) of the 38 HAP properties currently available in the capital.

In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50% in rent payments above the standard rate set for the area, this extra amount is limited to 35% elsewhere in the country.

Three areas outside of Dublin had properties available within discretionary HAP limits.

These were Cork city suburbs (one property), Dundalk (three properties) and Kildare (two properties).

Sligo had the lowest number of properties available to rent with just two properties available across the three days.

Although the total number of properties available to rent increased since the March Locked Out report, eight of the 16 areas in the study recorded a reduction in the number of properties available to rent.

The areas with the largest increases in the number of available properties were in Kildare, Dublin city south and Dublin city north.

We need to see more progress on delivery of affordable housing in Ireland.

Wayne Stanley, executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: “The latest Locked Out Of The Market report highlights what the broader figures and the experience of Simon frontline workers across the country are telling us.

“We need to see more progress on delivery of affordable housing in Ireland.

“The recognition of the need for greater ambition on housing by Taoiseach Simon Harris is very welcome but we now need his Government to outline how this new ambition will be delivered.

“A critical element of any successful plan, that will help to address homelessness, should include the delivery of at least 15,000 social housing homes for rent each year.

“In the short term, we need to see HAP rates increased, but this is not a long-term sustainable solution. The answer is more social and affordable housing.”

For couples or parents with one child, there were no properties available within standard HAP limits but 15 properties were available within discretionary limits.

Four properties were in Dublin city north, eight in Dublin city south, one property in Dublin city centre, and two located in Dundalk.

According to the report, there were no properties available for a couple or one-parent households with two children through a standard HAP rate.

Some 22 properties were available within discretionary HAP limits, 15 of which overlap with properties available to families with one child.

These were available in Dublin City North, Dublin City South, Dublin City Centre and Dundalk.