12th February 2026
Locked Out of the Market Report by Simon Communities of Ireland Finds No Properties Available Within Standard HAP Limits in 16 Areas Surveyed in December
The Simon Communities of Ireland’s December 2025 Locked Out of the Market report shows that no properties were available to rent within standard Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits across the 16 areas surveyed.
Just 31 properties were available within any HAP limits, all of which were within the higher discretionary rates, representing just 3% of all properties available to rent at the time of the study and highlighting the continued difficulty for households relying on HAP to access the private rental market.
The report found 929 properties available to rent at any price across the 16 study areas over the three dates surveyed. While this represents a 12% increase compared with September 2025, it is a 25% reduction compared with December 2024, highlighting the continued tightening of rental supply.
Ireland continues to experience record levels of homelessness. As of December 2025, 16,734 people were living in emergency accommodation, including 5,188 children, representing significant year-on-year increases.
HAP Properties
There were no properties available within standard HAP limits in any of the 16 study areas. All 31 properties identified were available under discretionary HAP rates.
There were no HAP properties available in 10 of the 16 areas. These include Athlone, Cork City Centre, Galway City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, Portlaoise, and Waterford City Centre.
As seen in many previous Locked Out of the Market reports, the supply of properties within HAP limits was predominantly in Dublin. 27 of the 31 HAP properties were found across the three Dublin study areas, with just three areas outside Dublin recording any availability.
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 findings of the December 2025 Locked Out of the Market report show just how stark the reality is for people who rely on HAP. With no properties available within standard HAP limits and the vast majority of homes concentrated in Dublin, many households across the country simply have no viable options in the private rental market.
For individuals and families outside the capital in particular, the prospect of finding a suitable and affordable home is becoming increasingly remote, with discretionary HAP rates still failing to keep pace with rising rents.
One of the levers available to Government is the enforcement of regulations around short-term lets. This could potentially bring thousands of properties back into the market at a time where there is a dire shortage. Government and Local Authorities must take urgent action to address the monopoly of short-term lets, particularly in the West of Ireland and more touristy areas.
We are continuing to see record levels of homelessness, and without urgent action to increase the supply of affordable housing and ensure that support reflects the real cost of renting, more people will remain trapped in emergency accommodation or at risk of losing their homes.”
Lowest Number of Properties
Portlaoise and Sligo Town had the lowest number of properties available to rent, with just one and four properties available respectively across the three survey dates.
Across the study areas, 72% of all rental properties available nationwide were located in Dublin, demonstrating the continued imbalance in rental supply across the country.
Seven of the 16 study areas saw a reduction in the number of properties available to rent compared with the September 2025 report, while eight saw an increase.
Studio Apartments
For the purpose of this report, studio apartments are not included in the overall figure for HAP properties. However, 23 studio apartments were available within HAP limits during the study period, the majority located in Dublin.
Single Person / Couple
There were no properties available for single person or couple households within standard HAP limits. There were 19 properties available within discretionary HAP limits, located in Dublin City North (9 properties), Dublin City South (7 properties), and Dublin City Centre (3 properties).
Couple / One Parent with One Child
There were no properties available to couple or one-parent households with one child within standard HAP limits. There were 9 properties available through discretionary HAP rates, located in Cork City Suburbs (1 property), Dublin City North (3 properties), Dublin City South (3 properties), Dundalk (1 property), and Kildare (1 property).
Couple / One Parent with Two Children
There were no properties available to couple or one-parent households with two children within standard HAP limits. There were 3 unique properties available through discretionary HAP rates, and an additional 11 that overlapped with properties available to families with one child. The three unique properties were located in Dublin City North (1 property), Dublin City South (1 property), and Dundalk (1 property).
Voices of Those Locked Out
Leanne*, a Cork Simon service user, described the challenge of securing housing:
“They don’t have places now for HAP. The cap thing doesn’t match the rents. Say if I found a property in the morning, and let’s just say the rent is €2,000 a month. And you go back to the HAP and the HAP say no, because it’s too expensive. But they won’t increase the tariff for it, so we don’t have any chance. And a lot of landlords aren’t taking HAP anymore. They’re just refusing straight out. So, what hope have we? What chance do I have? You know, I have a very good history of renting. I want to go back to work. But how am I going to rent? How am I going to get out of the homelessness? It worked perfect years ago when the rent tariffs were low. Rents were a lot lower. They need to look at the HAP again.”
*Name changed to protect identity.
ENDS
