Louth TD calls HAP payments a 'poor substitute' for social housing

A Louth TD has criticised the government on their housing policy, calling the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) “a poor substitute for social housing”.

Sinn Féin TD and member of the Public Accounts Committee, Imelda Munster, has said that the money being used to fund the HAP payment would be better off used to build social housing.

“This year will see the amount of money spent by the Department of Housing on subsidising private landlords eclipse €1 billion, representing nearly a third of all government spending on housing,” said Munster.

“This money could be far better used building social housing and actually affordable homes,” she continued.

Munster said that the cost of renting throughout Louth has increased significantly in recent years, adding that the HAP was playing a role in pushing up the price of renting.

“In my constituency of Louth for example, in 2017 the average rent of a three-bed house was €977 – today that stands at €1,230.

“Rents nationally have increased at a similar pace, and we can see this reflected in the cost of supporting HAP, with almost 44% of recipients outside of Dublin being in receipt of a discretionary top up payment.

“Outside of Dublin, this top-up payment is capped at 20% with the average rate applied being 20%,” said Munster.

Munster criticised Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, saying that the government’s housing policies are creating the circumstances to make these subsidies permanent to landlords.

“The average mortgage term in Ireland is 20 – 25 years, people who were in their late 30s or early 40s when this [HAP] was first introduced in 2014 may well today face increased challenges accessing mortgage loans.

“More and more people will age into this cohort over the coming years as this government fails to deliver both on both social housing and truly affordable homes.”

According to Munster, as most people are earning less money when they retire, this drop in income is usually offset by not making payments on a mortgage anymore. This will no longer be a case for people in the decades to come, she says.

Munster reiterated that the HAP scheme is a “poor substitute for social homes”, adding that the solution was to build more social housing on public land.

“HAP is a poor substitute for social housing.

“This government seems ideologically opposed to the building of any housing unless the private sector can take a extortionate slice off the top.

“The solution is the building public housing on public land.”