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12 Feb 2026
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12 Feb 2026
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Portlaoise has zero rental properties for HAP tenants. Photo: Leinster Express.
The continued housing crisis in Laois has been highlighted in a national report by the Simon Homeless Charity.
Their latest Locked Out Of The Market survey examined where tenants approved for a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to help pay for rents, could rent a home.
In Portlaoise, the answer is nowhere. The town had just one home offered to rent at the time of the December 2025 nationwide survey, the lowest in the country, and it was not within HAP rental limits.
The report found that Portlaoise also had the lowest number of properties available to rent out of any surveyed area, with just one advertised.
This February the situation has barely improved, with just two Portlaoise rental properties advertised, at hefty rents. One is a four bedroom semi-detached home in Rathevan for €2,000 a month, the other a similar size in Foxburrow is seeking €2,500 a month.
The Simon survey found no HAP properties available in 10 of the 16 areas. As well as Portlaoise these include Athlone, Cork City Centre, Galway City Suburbs, Galway City Centre, Co. Leitrim, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town and Waterford City Centre.
As in many previous Locked Out of the Market reports, the supply of properties within HAP limits was predominantly in Dublin. 27 of the 31 HAP properties were found across the three Dublin study areas, with just three areas outside Dublin showing availability. In Dublin, the HAP payment can be increased, up to an additional 50% but this is limited to 35% elsewhere in the country.
Across the study areas, 72% of all rental properties available nationwide were located in Dublin, which Simon says demonstrates "the continued imbalance in rental supply across the country".
Leanne*, a Simon service user, described the challenge of securing housing:
“They don’t have places now for HAP. The cap thing doesn’t match the rents. Say if I found a property in the morning, and let’s just say the rent is €2,000 a month. And you go back to the HAP and the HAP say no, because it’s too expensive. But they won’t increase the tariff for it, so we don’t have any chance. And a lot of landlords aren’t taking HAP anymore. They’re just refusing straight out.
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“So, what hope have we? What chance do I have? You know, I have a very good history of renting. I want to go back to work. But how am I going to rent? How am I going to get out of the homelessness? It worked perfect years ago when the rent tariffs were low. Rents were a lot lower. They need to look at the HAP again.”
*Name changed to protect identity.
Ber Grogan is the Executive Director at the Simon Communities of Ireland.
“The findings of the December 2025 Locked Out of the Market report show just how stark the reality is for people who rely on HAP. With no properties available within standard HAP limits and the vast majority of homes concentrated in Dublin, many households across the country simply have no viable options in the private rental market.
“For individuals and families outside the capital in particular, the prospect of finding a suitable and affordable home is becoming increasingly remote, with discretionary HAP rates still failing to keep pace with rising rents.
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“One of the levers available to Government is the enforcement of regulations around short-term lets. This could potentially bring thousands of properties back into the market at a time where there is a dire shortage. Government and Local Authorities must take urgent action to address the monopoly of short-term lets, particularly in the West of Ireland and more touristy areas.
“We are continuing to see record levels of homelessness, and without urgent action to increase the supply of affordable housing and ensure that support reflects the real cost of renting, more people will remain trapped in emergency accommodation or at risk of losing their homes,” Simon's Executive Director said.
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