28th January 2025
Simon Communities of Ireland Concerned at Lack of Properties Outside Dublin
The Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report, from December 2024, shows 46 properties were available to rent within the discretionary rate of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme. This is an increase (10%) in properties (1,119) since September 2024.
The report found 1,233 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over the three dates surveyed (December 2024). This is a 7% increase from the 1,149 properties available in the December 2023 Locked Out report.
HAP Properties
Like September 2024, eight of the 16 areas had no properties available to rent in any household category within standard or discretionary HAP limits. These were Athlone, Cork City Centre, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town and Portlaoise.
As seen in many previous Locked Out of the Market reports, the supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin. 37 (76%) of the total 46 HAP properties were found in Dublin. In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50% on the standard rate; this is limited to 35% elsewhere in the country. The remaining HAP properties were found in Cork City Suburbs (one property), Dundalk (one property), Galway City Suburbs (one property), Kildare (four properties) and Waterford City Centre (two properties).
Lowest Number of Properties
Portlaoise had the lowest number of properties available to rent with just three properties available across the three days. Two of the 16 study areas saw a reduction in the number of properties available to rent. These include Athlone (two properties), Cork City Suburbs (seven properties).
13 of the 16 study areas saw an increase in the number of properties available to rent. These include Cork City Centre (one property), Dublin City North (two properties), Dublin City South (46 properties), Dublin City Centre (three properties), Dundalk (13 properties), Galway City Suburbs (four properties), Galway City Centre (five properties), Kildare (two properties), Co. Leitrim (three properties), Limerick City Suburbs (nine properties) Limerick City Centre (15 properties), Sligo Town (one property) and Waterford City Centre (19 properties).
Studio Apartments
For the purpose of this report, studio apartments are not included in the overall figure for HAP properties. However, we note there were 35 studio apartments available within HAP limits during the study period. Five of these properties were available within standard HAP limits. 34 of the 35 studio apartments were in Dublin and the remaining property was in Kildare.
Tony Geoghegan, Interim Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said:
“The findings from the latest Locked Out of the Market report are stark, showing little to no improvement compared to previous reports. The trend is clear; 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. 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.”
Single People / Couple
There were four properties available to single person/couple households through a standard HAP rate. Two properties were in Dublin City North, one property was in Dublin City South and one property was located in Galway City Suburbs. There were an additional 15 properties available for single person/couple households within discretionary HAP limits. These were in Dublin City North (six properties), Dublin City South (six properties) and Dublin City Centre (two properties) and Kildare (one property).
Couple / Parent with One Child
There was one property available to couple/one parent households with one child through a standard HAP rate. This was located in Dublin City Centre. There were 15 properties available through discretionary HAP rates. Six properties were in Dublin City North, six properties were in Dublin City South, two properties were in Dublin City Centre and one property was in Kildare.
Couple / Parent with Two Children
There were four properties available to couple/one parent households with two children through a standard HAP rate, one of which overlaps with properties available to families with one child. One property was in Dublin City Centre (overlapping with property available for families with one child), one property was in Dundalk and two properties were in Waterford City Centre. There were 23 properties available through discretionary HAP rates, 8 of which overlap with properties available to families with one child.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Aileen Gaskin
P: 087 7724 717
E: communications@simoncommunity.com
About Locked Out of the Market:
The Locked Out of the Market report examines the experience of people on a low income and dependent on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to access housing in the private rental market. The report looked at the availability of homes to rent over a three-day period in December 2024. The report considers the availability of properties within both the standard and discretionary HAP limits in 16 areas around the country for four household categories: single person, couple, couple/one parent and one child and couple/one parent and two children.
About Simon Communities
The Simon Communities support over 24,000 men, women, and children. We have 50 years of experience providing homeless, housing and treatment services to people facing the trauma and stress of homelessness. We are a network of independent Communities based in Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, the Midlands, the Mid West and the South East, responding to local needs and supported by a National Office in the areas of policy, research, and communications. We share common values and ethos in tackling homelessness and, informed by our grassroots services, we campaign for more effective policies and legislation regionally, nationally and at European level. Whatever the issue, Simon’s door is always open for as long as we are needed.
Services include:
- Homelessness prevention, tenancy sustainment and resettlement.
- Street outreach, emergency accommodation and harm reduction.
- Housing with support and Housing First services.
- Homeless specific health and wellbeing services (counselling; addiction treatment and recovery; and mental health supports).
- Personal development, education, training, and employment services.
- Foodbanks, drop-in centers and soup runs.