'National crisis' as lowest amount of HAP houses available for rent on record

There were no properties available to rent within a standard Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) cap across the four main household types, a new report from the Simon Community has revealed.

Just 29 properties were found within a discretionary HAP rate.

In the latest Locked Out report, published on a quarterly basis, Simon found that just 672 properties were available for rent at any price within 16 areas over a three day period, surveyed in March.

This represented an 11 per cent fall from the 757 available in its equivalent December survey.

There were no HAP properties available to rent in Cork city, the Cork city suburbs, Limerick city centre and eight other study areas.

Wayne Stanley executive director of the Simon Communities told RTÉ News: "This is absolutely a national crisis. We are expecting to see a very significant increase in the amount of people using our services. We would encourage people to, as soon as they start feeling under any pressure, start reaching out to the supports that are there". 

Labour leader and housing spokesperson Ivana Bacik has urged Government to extend the eviction ban in the context of the HAP analysis carried out by the Simon Communities.

Deputy Bacik said:“There has been a fundamental lack of commitment to social housing under this conservative coalition. It is ideology, not the economy, that is going to drive thousands of households into homeless in the weeks and months ahead.

“With just 29 HAP properties available on the market, this is a perfect storm for those on lower incomes who also risk receiving a notice to quit this weekend. It’s nothing short of a national disgrace.

“There are many low to middle income earners who avail of the HAP scheme as they are in the high rent, low security private rental sector. The scheme was designed to provide long-term, secure and affordable rent, but it is no longer working.

“This Government has essentially outsourced social housing to the private market through its overreliance on HAP. There has been a lack of commitment to investing in social housing. HAP limits haven’t been raised since 2017, something Labour has consistently urged Government to do. The discretionary rate was considered during the summer, but not the core, which represents the style of ‘tinkering around the edges’ that has marked this Government’s approach to the housing crisis.

“The sting in all of this is – it doesn’t have to be this way. Labour and other members of the opposition have put forward a suite of emergency legislation to tackle the issues of supply, affordability and security in the rental market. Instead this Government is opting to force families into homelessness. It is a social catastrophe,” Deputy Bacik said.