Housing Assistance Programme (HAP) 'no longer working' for renters in Kildare - Cllr

Labour councillor Angela Feeney has warned that the Housing Assistance Payment is no longer working for renters locally in Kildare, as rising rents and limited supply push families and workers out of their own communities.

Councillor Feeney said the reality on the ground shows a housing system that is failing people who rely on HAP to secure a home.

“In Kildare, people are doing everything asked of them. They are working, raising families and trying to put down roots. Yet they cannot find a home within the HAP limits when required. That is not a personal failure. It is a policy failure", she said.

Properties within HAP limits are virtually non-existent, Cllr Feeney stated, while rents continue to climb.

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For renters in towns like Maynooth, Leixlip, Kilcock, Celbridge, that means endless viewings, repeated rejections and growing fear about where they will live next, she said.

The result, Cllr Feeney added, is families stuck in emergency accommodation, people 'sofa surfing' with friends and relatives, and workers forced to leave the place where their children are at school, where their job and family connections are, because they cannot afford to stay.

“What makes this worse is that Government decisions are actively pushing rents higher. Instead of strengthening protections for renters, they have chosen to weaken them. Renters are being told to absorb higher costs in a market that is already broken", Cllr Feeney said.

“HAP was meant to act as a safety net. In practice, it has become a false promise. People are approved for support but then cannot find a landlord willing to accept it. That leaves households trapped in limbo, with no stability and no security.  As a public representative, I see this every day. “It also has knock-on effects because schools feel the pressure when families move repeatedly, employers struggle to retain staff who cannot afford to live locally and communities lose volunteers, carers and neighbours".

“This crisis is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices. Failing to build public housing at scale, relying on the private market and allowing rents to spiral have all led us here. Renters in Kildare and across the country deserve better than a system that keeps failing them.”