Longford has second lowest Housing Assistance Payment uptake

Figures from the Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government show that only Leitrim local authority has less private renters availing of The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

The HAP scheme is a housing support available to all eligible households with a long term housing need.

At end Q2 2023, over 112,900 HAP tenancies were set-up since the scheme commenced, with 58,234 active tenancies being supported under the HAP Scheme.

Longford has the second lowest number of households with the local authority registering 339 active tenancies at end Q2, 2023, only Leitrim County Council have less with 249.

The largest number on the list is the Dublin Region Homeless Executive with 9,112. DRHE is operating the HAP Homeless on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities. Cork County Council have the highest number of active tenancies at 3,520 followed by Louth County Council with 3,105. Neighbours Roscommon County Council have 403, Cavan County Council have 424, while Westmeath County Council have 961.

The figures came to light when Sinn Fein's Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government, Darragh O'Brien, to provide a breakdown of the total number of active HAP tenancies in each local authority.

In his reply the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government spoke of the government plan to scale down the demand for the scheme: “I am committed to decreasing our reliance on the HAP scheme and central to that is significantly scaling up our social housing supply. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade.

“This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes,” Minister O'Brien said.

At the end of last year, there were 59,258 active HAP tenancies, which was a decrease on the 61,907 tenancies in 2021, although still higher than the 52,529 in 2019.

Department of Housing figures indicate that last year a total of €515.2 million was paid to landlords by the State through the scheme, a 45% increase on the €354.6 million spent four years earlier in 2019.