A Cork housing charity says a cap on rent increases and a rise in the housing assistance payment would have a powerful impact on the rental crisis in the city and county.
A report by the Simon Communities of Ireland shows that in a three day period of March there were no properties available to rent on the HAP scheme in Cork city or its suburbs.
Cork Simon says meaningful targetted action now needs to be taken by the Government to tackle the rental market which sees many on low incomes effectively "Locked Out" of the market.
The charity says, just like Cork Penny Dinners, it has seen a rise in the number of people turning to them for help as the lack of available rental properties along with the rising cost of living means that can't make ends meet.
Speaking to RedFM News Paul Sheehan of Cork Simon says the current HAP rates need to be reviewed and a cap on rent increases re-introduced to help alleviate the pressure.
"There was a moratorium on evicting people into homelessness, there was a moratorium on rent increases, but as soon as the restrictions on Covid were lifted so did those.
"Over the last few months we've seen a slow and steady increase in those presenting to our services.
"That was clearly a most effective measure. If you had that together along with a proper review of HAP payments and raising those caps in line with market rents that would make a huge difference."
