Just 20 properties to rent within HAP limits, study finds

There were just 20 properties available to rent within the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme limits in June 2026.

These figures were discovered in the Simon Communities of Ireland’s quarterly Locked Out of the Market report.

It found that just 1,303 properties were available to rent across the 16 areas surveyed in June. This is an increase of 233 properties since March, and an increase of 978 properties since March 2025.

In both the March and June reports, nine of the 16 study areas had no properties available to rent within HAP limits.

This includes Athlone, Cork City Suburbs, Galway City Centre and Suburbs, County Leitrim, Limerick City and Suburbs, Portlaoise and Waterford City Centre.

In three of the 16 study areas, they saw a reduction in the overall number of HAP properties available since March. These included Cork City Centre (one property), Dundalk (one property) and Sligo Town (one property). The report found that 85% of the 20 HAP properties were found in Dublin.

In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows an additional 50% on top of the standard rate, while this is limited to 35% across the rest of the country.

Ber Grogan, Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said: “The Simon Communities of Ireland has published the Locked Out of the Market Report for over ten years, and our message has remained the same - the HAP system needs reform.

“It is almost one year since the Minister confirmed that a review of HAP was underway, yet we are still no clearer on its findings or recommendations. Will Budget 2027 finally deliver the long-awaited increase to HAP limits?

“The quarter one 2026 Homeless Progress Report showed that HAP was used less than in the same period last year, either as a homeless prevention measure or as an exit from homelessness.

“HAP is not working. People are still locked out of the market. We see and hear this on the ground every single day, across the country. People are being discriminated against. There is one short-term solution that would make an immediate difference - increase the HAP limits.”

Mark, a Midwest Simon service user, said: “It is separating my family and me from each other because she's in one homeless service and I'm in another; we can't get a house together being on social welfare.”

When it came to the fewest properties available to rent, Leitrim had the fewest, with just four properties available across three days.