Hearne warns of impending HAP crisis

The chronic shortage of properties available within Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits will lead to a spiral of homelessness, Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne has warned.

The Dublin North-West TD was speaking after the publication of the ‘Locked Out of the Market’ report from the Simon Communities of Ireland, which Hearne says “makes for grim reading.

The report shows that, in September, there was a 25 per cent decrease in the number of homes available within HAP limits since June, with just 24 properties around the country meeting the criteria.

“Shockingly, there were no HAP-eligible properties in 11 of the 16 areas surveyed, including Cork city, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford. Where exactly are people in these areas supposed to live? Of the 24 properties available within HAP limits, 21 were in Dublin,” Hearne relayed.

“The Taoiseach and Minister for Housing talk about ‘complex’ reasons for homelessness to deflect from their failures. However, the truth, as these figures show, is that lack of affordable housing is the main cause of homelessness.”

Hearne said, “there are almost 60,000 households relying on HAP to put a roof over their heads. If the landlord evicts them, then they have no hope of finding another property to rent within HAP limits. This will lead to a HAP homelessness spiral.”

“Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael policy has created this disaster by privatising social housing delivery to the private rental market. In parallel, they have allowed rents to rise astronomically to incentivise investor funds,” he said.

“Some of our most vulnerable citizens – including disabled people, the elderly and one-parent families – are dependent on HAP and are disproportionately impacted by the shortage of eligible properties.

The Social Democrats TD is saying “government paralysis on housing cannot continue; we need to see an immediate rent freeze and rent reduction mechanisms put in place, alongside a ramping-up of social and affordable housing delivery, to end the state’s over-reliance on HAP.”