No HAP properties available to rent in Cork city 

There have been no HAP properties available to rent in Cork city in the last four quarterly reports by Simon Communities, with Cork falling far behind Dublin in terms of properties to rent, new data has shown.

Locked Out of the Market is a snapshot study undertaken every quarter, over three consecutive days, on Daft.ie.

It tracks the number of properties advertised to rent within government Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits.

Details were gathered from Daft.ie for 16 areas including Cork city centre and Cork city suburbs, both of which were found to have no properties available to rent through HAP in any household category.

Across the June 2025, March 2025 and December 2024 Locked Out of the Market reports, there has not been a single HAP property available in Cork city.

Extremely concerning

The suburbs had just one HAP property available in December 2024, which the report described as “extremely concerning”.

Of the 24 HAP properties found nationwide in the October 2025 report, 88% were found across the three Dublin study areas.

Simon Communities also looked at properties to rent at any price, 70% of which were again in Dublin. Cork city centre saw a small reduction in the total amount of properties to rent compared to the last report, while the suburbs saw a small increase.

In total, there were just 34 properties to rent in Cork city during the study period, and 26 in the suburbs, compared to 580 in Dublin.

In Cork city, the majority were two bedroom properties. The median monthly rent was around €1,900 for a one-bed and two-bed; €2,730 for a three-bed; and €3,500 for a four-bed.

In the suburbs, monthly rents were around €1,700 for a one-bed; €2,000 for a two-bed, €2,460 for a three-bed; and €3,500 for a four-bed.

Impossible

John Foskett, a Cork Simon project worker, explained in Cork Simon’s most recent Home Truths report: “It’s an impossible market for our lads to break into. Our service users are going with a view to renting through HAP. 

"If I find somewhere available and we mention HAP, they don’t get a call back. Number one, it’s finding somewhere. Number two, it’s finding a landlord that will take HAP.

“Then there’s high competition. They’re up against people who have 12 months of pay slips and the likes. We’re having to look further and further, 30/40 minutes outside the city. But that can have a detrimental effect as it’s pushing people away from their GP and services.

“Years ago you couldn’t break into the home ownership market, now you can’t break into the rental market. Until there’s rent caps and a lot more houses built, I can’t see anything changing.”