Kildare & Dundalk Only Areas To Have Properties Affordable Under Discretionary HAP Rates

Friday, 31 March 2023 10:26

By Caoimhe Harney

The March 2023 Locked Out of the Market report found 672 properties available to rent at any price within the 16 areas

Kildare and Dundalk were the only areas outside of Dublin to have properties affordable under discretionary HAP rates, according to a report by the Simon Communities.

11 of the 16 areas had no HAP properties available to rent in any household category within standard or discretionary limits.

These were Athlone, Cork City Centre, Cork City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Galway City Suburbs, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, Portlaoise, and Waterford.

The March 2023 Locked Out of the Market report found 672 properties available to rent at any price within the 16 areas over the three dates surveyed; 11% (85 properties) decrease from the 757 available in the December 2022 Locked Out report.

70% (472) of properties available to rent at any price were located within the three Dublin areas studied. Portlaoise had the lowest number of homes available to rent with just three properties available over the three days. Limerick City Centre and Limerick City Suburbs had four properties
available in each area.

12 of the 16 study areas experienced a decrease in the availability of properties to rent, with the exception of Athlone, Galway City Suburbs, Sligo Town, and Portlaoise.

For the second time since this the publication of this report, there were no properties available within a standard HAP rate across the four household types.

29 properties were found within a discretionary HAP rate. This is the lowest number of HAP properties recorded by the Locked Out of
the Market series.

It also signifies the lowest proportion of properties within HAP rates at 4.3% compared to 10.8% 12 months prior in March 2022.

As seen in many recent Locked Out reports, the supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly available in Dublin; 21 (72.4%) of the total 29 HAP properties were found in the three Dublin areas examined.

Dublin has a discretionary HAP rate of 50% compared to 35% for the rest of the country.

Wayne Stanley, Executive Director Of The Simon Communities joined Eoin Beatty on Friday's Kildare Today: