A housing charity has raised concern about the lack of affordable houses available to rent outside Dublin.
The Simon Communities of Ireland launched its quarterly report, Locked Out of the Market, which measures the experience of people on a low income and dependent on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to access homes in the private rental market.
It found that in December there were 46 properties available to rent within the discretionary rate of the HAP scheme.
The report found 1,233 properties were available to rent at any price in 16 areas over three days in December, a 7% increase from 1,149 in December 2023.
The report said eight of the 16 areas had no properties available to rent in any household category within standard or discretionary HAP limits.
These were Athlone, Cork City Centre, Galway City Centre, Co Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town and Portlaoise.
The supply of properties within HAP limits are predominantly in Dublin, with 37 of the 46 homes found in the area.
Remaining HAP properties were found in Cork City Suburbs (one property), Dundalk (one), Galway City Suburbs (one), Kildare (four) and Waterford City Centre (two).
Tony Geoghegan, interim executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the findings of the report were “stark” and showed little or no improvement from previous reports.
He added: “The trend is clear, HAP recipients are finding it increasingly difficult to secure suitable accommodation.
“Outside of Dublin is certainly a bigger challenge, with no properties available in eight of the 16 areas studied.
“While the new Programme for Government’s commitment to increased housing targets is hugely welcome, in the meantime we must prevent more people becoming homeless and also support people who are currently homeless to exit homelessness.
“In the past, the private rented sector was one of the main avenues for people to exit homelessness.
“However, this is no longer the case. If the new Government is serious in addressing homelessness, then a dedicated homeless prevention strategy, that includes a strategy for managing the private rented sector, is urgently required.”