The number of rental properties available under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme has fallen sharply once again.
Only 24 homes nationwide were within HAP limits across 16 regions last September, marking a 25 per cent decrease compared with June, reports Breaking News.
According to the latest report from the Simon Communities of Ireland, nearly all available homes — 21 of the 24 — were located in Dublin, while Sligo and Leitrim had the fewest.
In Dublin, local authorities can apply a discretionary increase of up to 50 per cent above the standard HAP rate, while the limit elsewhere remains capped at 35 per cent, reports Breaking News.
Just two of the 13 areas outside Dublin had any properties within HAP thresholds — Dundalk with one property and Kildare with two.
No homes were available within HAP limits in 11 of the 16 surveyed regions, including Athlone, Cork City Centre, Cork City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Galway City Suburbs, Co Leitrim, Limerick City Centre, Limerick City Suburbs, Sligo Town, Portlaoise, and Waterford City Centre, reports Breaking News.
Six areas recorded declines in HAP property availability since the June 2025 report. These were Dublin City Centre (down one), Dundalk (down two), Galway City Suburbs (down one), Galway City Centre (down one), Kildare (down two), and Limerick City Suburbs (down one).
Across the 16 regions, 833 rental homes were available at any price — a 26 per cent drop compared with the 1,119 listed in the September 2024 Locked Out report, reports Breaking News.
Ber Grogan, Executive Director of the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: “The rental sector continues to fail those reliant on social housing supports in the private rental sector yet again.
“People on lower incomes simply cannot access affordable rental homes,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Grogan said the organisation had hoped Budget 2026 would deliver concrete measures to tackle homelessness, but that “it remains to be seen if the measures announced will make any tangible difference to people.”
“Unless developers and landlords are obligated to provide social and affordable homes, thousands will continue to experience the trauma of homelessness,” he said, reports Breaking News.
He welcomed the announcement of a review into the HAP scheme but warned that “without an immediate uplift in line with market rents, the private rental sector will continue to be a main driver of people being forced into homelessness.”
Speaking on Newstalk, Dermot McCann of the Simon Communities of Ireland said HAP is failing to meet landlords’ rental expectations: “A larger percentage of landlords are no longer taking people with the HAP support scheme because it doesn’t meet the rent requirements that they have.
“There are less properties out there available to homeless people to avail of through the HAP scheme,” reports Breaking News.
For more information about the HAP scheme, visit [www.hap.ie](http://www.hap.ie), reports Breaking News.
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