The Simon Communities of Ireland’s (SCI) quarterly Locked Out of the Market report, from March 2026, shows that just 14 properties were available to rent within any of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme limits. This is a staggering decrease of 17 properties (55%) since December 2025.
The report found 1,070 properties were available to rent at any price within the 16 areas surveyed over the three dates surveyed (March 2026). This is a 15% increase from the 929 properties available in the December 2025 report. However, it is a 4% reduction from the 1,119 properties available in the March 2025 Locked Out report.
This report represents the first in the Locked Out of the Market series to be conducted under the new legislative framework (Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026) which came into effect on March 1st.
HAP Properties
No properties were available to rent within HAP limits in 10 of the 16 study areas. These include Athlone, Cork City Suburbs, Galway City Suburbs, Kildare, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Portlaoise, and Waterford City Centre.
Eight of the 16 study areas had no properties available within HAP limits in either the December 2025 or March 2026 reports. These include Athlone, Galway City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Portlaoise, and Waterford City Centre.
Six of the 16 study areas saw a reduction in the number of HAP properties available since the December 2025 report. These include Cork City Suburbs (one property), Dublin City North (7 properties), Dublin City South (7 properties), Dublin City Centre (2 properties), Dundalk (one property) and Kildare (1 property).
As seen in many previous Locked Out of the Market reports, the supply of properties within any HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin. 11 of the total 14 HAP properties were found in Dublin. Just three of the 13 study areas outside of Dublin had properties available to rent within any HAP limits. These included Cork City Centre (1 property), Dundalk (one property) and Sligo Town (1 property). In Dublin, the discretionary rate allows up to an additional 50% on the standard rate; this is limited to 35% elsewhere in the country
Ber Grogan, Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said:
“The private rental sector remains out of reach for far too many people and the Simon Communities across the country are seeing the consequences every day.
While changes such as six-year tenancies of minimum duration and limits on annual rent increases may provide greater stability for some renters, they fail to address the core issue – affordability, particularly for households relying on HAP. Provisions that allow rents to reset to market levels between tenancies or at the end of a six-year cycle risk widening the already significant gap between HAP limits and actual rents.
The Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation into the HAP Scheme has highlighted inefficiencies and inequities and its recommendations – including raising the maximum rent caps to reflect the current market, are a necessary step forward. The Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage has also commenced a review of HAP rent limits.
HAP is imperfect and we are far too reliant on the private rental sector as a key piece of our homeless solutions.
Without an immediate adjustment that reflects real market rents, the private rental sector will continue to be a primary driver of homelessness.”
Lowest Number of Properties
Portlaoise and Co. Leitrim had the lowest number of properties available to rent, with just one and seven properties available in each area, respectively, across the three days. When compared with the December 2025 Locked Out of the Market Report, four of the 16 study areas saw a reduction in the number of properties available to rent. These include Dublin City Centre (6 properties), Dundalk (2 properties), Galway City Centre (6 properties), and Co. Leitrim (7 properties).
12 of the 16 study areas saw an increase in the number of properties available to rent. These included Athlone (10 properties), Cork City Centre (11 properties), Cork City Suburbs (20 properties), Dublin City North (4 properties), Dublin City South (27 properties), Galway City Suburbs (28 properties), Kildare (12 properties), Limerick City Suburbs (8 properties), Limerick City Centre (15 properties), Sligo Town (5 properties), Portlaoise (1 property) and Waterford City Centre (21 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 14 studio apartments available within HAP limits during the study period. Just one of these properties was available within standard HAP limits. 12 of these studio apartments were located in Dublin, one in Dundalk, and one in Kildare.
Ellen, a Mid West Simon service user, said:
“The cost of living in Ireland has risen too high in recent years especially renting and renting while on a social welfare payment. Between electricity, oil, and rent particularly skyrocketed over recent years even with HAP and some other benefits getting by on a weekly basis can be a struggle. Even when I had a working income renting would have been a struggle to find accommodation and not affordable given the rising inflating market. Daft as of recent months has offered not much of housing variety and what was on offer is overpriced shared accommodation, and even more overpriced open accommodation.”
Single Person / Couple
Single person households received an increased HAP rate to match that available for couples in July 2022. The Locked Out of the Market March 2026 report found two properties suitable for single person/couple households within standard HAP limits, located in Dublin City North (1 property) and Sligo Town (1 property). There were six properties suitable for single person/couple households within discretionary HAP limits, located in Cork City Centre (1 property), Dublin City North (3 properties), and Dublin City South (2 properties).
Couples/Parent with One Child
There were no properties available to couple/one parent households with one child through a standard HAP rate. There were four properties available through discretionary HAP rates. Three of these properties were located in Dublin, and one in Dundalk.
Couple / Parent with Two Children
There were no properties available to couple/one parent households with two children through a standard HAP rate. There were 3 unique properties available through discretionary HAP rates, and an additional 4 properties that overlapped with properties available to families with one child. The three unique properties were all located in Dublin.
ENDS
For media enquiries contact:
Aileen Gaskin – 086 166 2160 / communications@simoncommunity.com
