At the most recent Plenary meeting of Waterford Council, it was noted that fifty-seven HAP properties were deregistered in Waterford in February, according to Waterford City and County Council.

HAP is a form of social housing support provided by all local authorities. Under HAP, local authorities can provide housing assistance to households with long-term housing needs.

Under the scheme, the local authority pays your private landlord a portion of the rent as agreed, while the tenant will pay the remaining balance.

On top of this, a weekly payment is also made to the local authority. The payments on the scheme are means tested, meaning they are unique to each person.

Local Councillor Mary Roche questioned the February figures, where thirteen tenancies were set up and fifty-seven leaving.

“There have been thirteen tenancies set up in February 2025, with minus fifty-seven leaving the scheme. What does this mean? Does it mean tenants are leaving the scheme or landlords?”.

In 2022, more HAP properties left the market (9,880) compared to joining (6,590). Over half of the tenants coming into HAP in 2022 had been on the housing waiting list for less than a year. The median gross earned income of working HAP households in 2022 was just under €20,000.

Locked Out of the Market, a quarterly report released by Simon Communities of Ireland assesses the experiences of low-income individuals who rely on Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to rent a property in the private rental market.

It found that in December there were 46 properties available nationwide to rent within the discretionary rate of the HAP scheme.

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.

Responding to Cllr. Mary Roche’s question, Director of Services for Housing, Helena Denehy said there are several reasons for the reductions.

“It would be a combination of landlords returning their properties or moving away but also HAP tenants who may have been reassigned social housing rather than HAP tenancies.

“I can however follow up with a breakdown of the figure.”

At 15,378 individuals, the number of homeless and emergency housing residents has reached yet another benchmark.

The Government has pledged to construct 300,000 homes by 2030.

For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR App for news on demand.