Urgent review needed of HAP limits, says Senator Moynihan

The poverty risk of households in receipt of housing subsidies is two and a half times greater after they have paid their rent, according to Social Justice Ireland’s latest study, titled ‘Housing and Poverty 2022’, which is published today.

The main findings of the report, Housing and Poverty 2022 were:

• The overall poverty rate increases from 13.3 per cent before housing costs to 19 per cent after housing costs – an increase of almost 300,000 people.
• Renters are the worst affected, with 44.7 per cent at risk of poverty after housing payments.
• For households in receipt of rent subsidies, the poverty rate increases from 22.7 per cent pre-rent payment to 55.9 per cent after rent.
• For households in Local Authority accommodation, the poverty rate increases from 37.6 per cent to 49.8 per cent after rent payments.
• Lone parents are the worst affected of all household type, with an increase in the poverty rate to 50 per cent after housing payments.
• People living with a long-standing health problem are also severely affected, with a poverty rate increasing from 33.7 per cent before housing costs to 47.4 per cent after

Responding to the Social Justice Ireland report, Labour housing spokesperson Rebecca Moynihan said it is beyond time that the HAP limits are reviewed and revised to acknowledge the current reality of the housing market.

Senator Moynihan said that the report highlights the “huge failings” in government policy.

“Renters are being left out in the cold by this government paying extortionate fees to keep a roof over their head.

“Meanwhile, the pace of inflation has totally outstripped wages meaning most renters are barely just making ends meet,” she said.

“The fact that we continue to rely on the private market for social housing is also having huge consequences for people and the government continues to ignore this ticking time bomb.

“The HAP limits have not been revised since 2016 despite the fact that rents have increased exponentially since then.

“We know that people are topping up with rates they can’t afford. There is also a huge lack of available properties under the HAP limits throughout the country.”

Moynihan said that there is a severe lack of available properties that fall within HAP limits.

“The Simon Communities Locked Out report showed that there was just one property available to rent for a single person within HAP limits.

“We in the Labour Party have continually called on government to wake up to this issue and to stop ignoring the needs of the some 400,000 single people in Ireland when it comes to housing.

“The housing system is not sustainable.

“Government knows this and multiple reports have confirmed the same. Ireland’s two-tier society is driving people into homelessness, it’s eroding people’s morale and it has created a situation where many people are working to barely get by.

“In a modern society, people should at the very least expect secure and affordable housing. An ambitious public housing programme needs to be at the core of this with sustainable and realistic social housing.”