New report highlights stark reality of housing crisis across Cork city and county

New Government figures show that 22,649 people in Cork city and county are on social-housing lists or are in receipt of housing-assistance payment (HAP).

The report, published this week by the Parliamentary Budget Office, also shows that it would cost €3.4bn to build a house for everyone in Cork on the waiting list for social housing or in receipt of Hap.

The report looks at those with “ongoing need” for housing.

The term was introduced by the budget office, which quantifies the number of households on the social-housing waiting lists, plus households in receipt of HAP.

Precarious

Those in receipt of HAP are included due to “the potentially precarious nature of private rental agreements and the difficulty in sourcing private rental accommodation which meets the criteria for HAP support”.

Up to 10,862 people in Cork city, and 11,787 people in the county-council area, are listed as having on ongoing need for housing, with the figures representing 4.85% of the total population of the city and 3.27% of the county.

Outside Dublin, Cork county has the highest amount of people in ongoing need of housing, closely followed by Cork city.

The report notes that “many HAP recipients continue to meet the eligibility criteria to avail of social housing” but states that once people enter the HAP scheme, the applicant is removed from the main social housing waiting list.

Within Cork county, there is a sizeable number of over-50s with an ongoing need. Meanwhile, the under-25 age cohort’s ongoing need is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

In Cork city, around 28% of the people with ongoing need for housing are 50 or over, while in Cork county, around 38% are 50 or over, with half of those 60 or over.

The report estimates, based on average building costs and allocating the most suitably-sized house to each person or family on the list, that it would cost €1.727bn to build a house for every person on the waiting list or in receipt of HAP in Cork county and €1.701bn in Cork city. 

When Residential Tenancies Board rental data for new and existing private rental tenancies in Q4 2023 is compared to the average HAP rents paid in the same period, it is evident that a large disparity exists across Ireland.

Cost

If the cost of a rental property is greater than the HAP allocation given to a household, the applicant can choose to pay the difference (directly to the landlord).

Cork city has a relatively low disparity between HAP and private rents compared to the rest of Ireland, with a €370 difference between average HAP and new non-HAP tenancy rents, while the disparity is almost doubled in Cork county, where there is a €730 difference between average HAP and average new rents.

Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said that 22,649 people in Cork was “a huge figure”, which “shows that we are, in fact, getting further from fixing the housing crisis”. 

Failure

He told The Echo: “This is further evidence of the Government’s inability to fix the housing crisis and their failure to deliver social housing for those who need it.

“The report, published by the Parliamentary Budget Office, estimates that the number of social homes across the State must be increased by 56% just to meet the current deficit. Yet only last month, Taoiseach Simon Harris inexplicably claimed that a sufficient volume of social housing was being delivered. 

"These figures rubbish the Taoiseach’s claim, and show just how out of touch he and his Government are when it comes to their failures to address the housing crisis.

“But none of this will come as a surprise to those struggling to put a secure and affordable roof over their heads.”