Number of HAP houses available to rent stood at 41

The number of houses available to rent for people accessing the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) stood at a low number of 41, according to the latest report from the Simon Community.

The Simon Communities Locked Out of the Market report for December shows this was a 17% increase from the 35 available in September 2022.

Some 40 of these properties fell within discretionary HAP limits and only one property was available to rent under a standard HAP rate.

This was a one-bedroom property in Kildare suitable for singles or couples, the report states.

The number of properties available to rent increased for the first time in two years.

There were 757 properties available to rent at any price within the 16 study areas, over the three dates surveyed.

This represents a 93.1% increase from the previous Locked Out of the Market report, but still down 43.8% from the 1,349 properties available in December 2021.

As seen in many recent reports, the properties within HAP limits were predominantly available in Dublin.

More than half were found in the three Dublin areas examined, including Dublin City Centre, Dublin City North and Dublin City South.

In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50% on the standard rate; this is 35% elsewhere in the country.

Some 11 of the 16 study areas had no properties available to rent in any household category within standard or discretionary HAP limits.

These were Athlone, Cork City Centre, Cork City Suburbs, Galway City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, Portlaoise, and Waterford City Centre.

The report found 11 properties affordable under the discretionary HAP rates for both single people and couples.

Wayne Stanley, executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: “Our most recent report sees a small increase in the number of properties available for those on HAP.

“There were 35 in the last report and now 41. While any improvement in the context of the current crisis is welcome, it is sadly not possible to call this an improving situation.

“The frontline experience of the Simon Communities working across Ireland, supporting people to move on from homelessness, reflects this.

“41 properties available in the context of 11,542 people seeking to exit homelessness is a chronic situation that requires an emergency response.

“Illustrating this is a recent report from Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) which found that in October, only six families and nine single people exited homelessness into a HAP property – the lowest figure seen in about five years.

“Our Locked Out report found just 24 properties affordable through HAP in the Dublin areas examined.

“We need affordable housing options and policies that will help people exit homelessness.

“The Government has taken the important and welcome step of bringing in the moratorium on evictions.

“Actions taken while this moratorium is in place will go a long way and what we need to see is momentum on the provision of secure affordable accommodation to those in homelessness throughout 2023.

“In the short term, we need to look at the allocation of current local authority housing.

“If we are to ensure secure affordable homes are in place to address the homelessness crisis, we need to see the full potential in modular build, in vacancy and dealing with dereliction delivered on and brought into the public housing system.”