More than 80,000 households are in state-supported private rented accommodation

Hap scheme payments to landlords totalled €436 million last year and are predicted to exceed €1 billion by the end of 2021

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien said there was a “strong pipeline” of 8,555 new social homes under construction and more than 9,000 homes at various stages of the approval process. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

The Irish state is supporting more than 80,000 households in private rented accommodation through the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap) at a cost of €450 million last year.

Established in 2014, the Hap scheme is a form of social housing support given to tenants in private landlord-owned properties.

New data released by the Department of Housing has shown that 80,827 households were receiving support through the scheme at the end of 2020 – up from 64,942 ...