Unaffordable and Unavailable: The Reality of Renting in Ireland

The Simon Communities of Ireland have once again highlighted the stark realities of the Irish rental market in their latest Locked Out of the Market report, published in January 2025. This quarterly survey, conducted over three days in December 2024, analyses rental listings on Daft.ie to assess the availability of properties within Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits. The findings paint a troubling picture of Ireland’s housing crisis, emphasizing the urgent need for systemic reform.

 

Limited Availability of Affordable Rentals

The report identified 1,233 properties available to rent across the 16 study [1] areas during the survey period, marking a modest 7 per cent increase from December 2023. However, only 46 of these properties were available within HAP limits, demonstrating the severe shortfall of affordable housing options for low-income households.

As noted in many of the previous reports, the majority of the properties available within the HAP limits were found in Dublin, with 37 of the 46 identified properties located in the region. Outside Dublin, only five areas had any properties available within discretionary HAP limits: Cork City Suburbs (1 property), Dundalk (1 property), Galway City Suburbs (1 property), Kildare (4 properties), and Waterford City Centre (2 properties).

Alarmingly, eight of the study areas—including Athlone, Cork City Centre, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, and Portlaoise—had no properties available within HAP limits at all.

The report categorises rental availability by household type, further highlighting the dire shortage of suitable, affordable homes:

• Single Persons & Couples: Only 4 properties were available at standard HAP rates (3 in Dublin, 1 in Galway), and an additional 15 properties were available through discretionary HAP rates.
• Couple/One Parent with One Child: Just 1 property was accessible through standard HAP rate (Dublin City Centre), while 15 more properties were available under discretionary HAP rates.
• Couple/One Parent with Two Children: Only 4 properties were available through standard HAP rate (1 in Dublin City Centre, 1 in Dundalk, and 2 in Waterford City Centre). Another 23 properties were available under discretionary HAP, 8 of which overlap with properties available to families with one child.

The report also includes personal testimonies from individuals struggling to find housing. Brendan, one such individual, describes his experience:

“Landlord came to me said ‘your contracts up; I’m not gonna give you another one’. It was hard to find somewhere. Nobody wants to take HAP, that’s the problem. Trying to find a place – I looked – and it’s just not there like. I was out on the streets for one night. Ended up in here [Cork Simon emergency shelter]. I’d never been in the homeless services before – I’ve worked for myself all my life. These kinda things, they soul destroy ya, they really do.”

Brendan’s experience reflects a larger trend where tenants reliant on HAP struggle to find and maintain stable housing. HAP rates have not kept pace with soaring rents, leaving tenants unable to secure stable housing. At the same time, the government is deliberating on the future of Rent Pressure Zones and considering a shift to a rent reference system recommended by the Housing Commission. However, if reference rents are based on current market rates, there is a risk of institutionalising already unaffordable prices, further exacerbating the crisis. The critical question remains: how will reference rents be set to balance affordability with investment viability?

Moreover, while rent controls can offer temporary relief, they must be complemented by long-term solutions such as increasing social housing stock. Without policies that both regulate rents and expand social housing, affordability will continue to decline.

Increasing Social Housing Stock: One of the Key Solutions

With homelessness figures hovering around 15,000—including 4,510 children—it is evident that relying on the private rental market to provide affordable, secure, sustainable, appropriate homes is insufficient. Other European countries which we would like to emulate have a social housing stock that is 20 per cent of their overall housing stock compared to 9 per cent in Ireland. The real need for social housing is under reported as those in HAP tenancies, DSGBV refuges, Direct Provision and many at risk of losing their home due to mortgage arrears are not included.

The government should invest in increasing the social housing stock to 20 per cent by 2040. By increasing the supply of social housing, we can directly address the shortage of affordable accommodation, reduce reliance on rental assistance schemes and offer a more sustainable solution, thereby reducing the long-term burden on the state exchequer. Without significant expansion, low-income households will remain dependent on an unstable private rental market, further exacerbating the crisis. This would also result in an additional 76,000 properties, currently being used as social housing, entering the private rented sector for use by private tenants. 

As the government contemplates the next steps in rental market reform, the priority must be ensuring that all individuals have access to safe, secure, and affordable housing. Without complementary policies that both regulate rents and expand social housing, affordability will continue to deteriorate. Anything less will prolong the cycle of homelessness and instability that too many in Ireland are already enduring.

 

 

 

 

[1] Athlone, Cork City Centre, Cork City Suburbs, Dublin City North, Dublin City South, Dublin City Centre, Dundalk, Galway City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Kildare, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, Portlaoise, Waterford City Centre.