Renters in Donegal are experiencing "the perfect storm", according to North West Simon Community.
"It's something we identified at least two years ago, that this was going to happen," said Noel Daly, CEO of the organisation.
"The reality is there are fewer properties available to rent and more and more demand. And the people with the least money are falling through the cracks at the bottom."
While this may be a common story across the country, Letterkenny-based property agent Gerry Grennan said there are issues particular to Donegal that have made the long-term rental market there "practically non-existent".
"There are things like the mica issue, where people are having to leave their homes that are being demolished, and they're looking for property," Mr Grennan said.
"So that's brought a whole new cohort of people into the market.
"We have people from Ukraine who are looking into the private rental market. And there’s also remote working, people want to come here.
"The other issue of course, is that we don’t have anything like the amount of social housing that we need.
"And we find that Airbnb, for instance, has taken a lot of property away, and traditionally Donegal is holiday rental anyway. So supply is the problem, it’s as simple as that."
Four Donegal renters told RTÉ's Drivetime about their experiences in the county's current rental market.
'I feel very hopeless'
"I’m going to be homeless because I can’t find anywhere," said Lisa, a mother of two toddlers. She said she must leave the house she is currently renting and is still on the waiting list for local authority social housing.
Lisa said she is unable to work as she is a full-time carer for her sons, who have disabilities.
She receives Housing Assistance Payment, but with average rent in Donegal now at €1,122 per month, she said the few properties that are available are now too expensive.
"I'm very under pressure, I'm very stressed and worried for my children because if it was just me, it would be fine," Lisa said.
"I can live in my car. But not when I have two very small children. I feel very hopeless. I don’t know what to do."
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'I don't want to live under a bridge'
Aneta rents in the Letterkenny area and said she has received an eviction notice from the owner of the property.
"The day we received the eviction letter, there were just fifteen houses in the whole of Donegal to rent," she said.
"The prices are huge and I cannot imagine myself paying €1,300 or more for a house. I cannot afford that."
Aneta said when she came to Ireland from Poland 17 years ago, she had her pick of homes to rent and could even negotiate the price, but the situation is now very different.
She is waiting to find out if she can get a mortgage and buy her current home, but as that remains uncertain she said there is a possibility she may have to return to Poland.
"I cannot imagine me and my daughter back in Poland at the moment, because my daughter doesn't even know how life looks in Poland," Aneta said.
"We have nothing in Poland, our life is here.
"But if I need to, I will do that, because I don’t want to live under a bridge or in some temporary accommodation. But I really don’t know. My house is here, my home is here."
'If worse comes to worse we'll take a camper van'
Gareth McDonnell, from Ramelton, is one of the thousands of homeowners in Donegal whose property has been affected by defective concrete blocks.
He plans to demolish his house in the spring and begin a rebuild.
Under a government grant scheme, his family can avail themselves of €15,000 to help with the cost of alternative accommodation during a rebuild. But he says there is little availability of homes to rent for this period.
"We contacted one particular letting agent in Letterkenny and he said his next property that would become available for lease will be in October of 2024," Mr McDonnell said, "that's how little supply there is."
"We're looking every day. Most nights we'll sit here on the couch, you'll take out the iPad and you'll look and you'll try and find something. There isn't anything.
"My wife’s parents live in Inishowen and they have a camper van and said we could have it. If the worst comes to the worst, then fair enough, we'll take that.
"There's a serious issue coming because there's definitely not enough supply. We just don't know what to do."
Irish language concerns
James Diver is from the Doire Beaga area in the Donegal Gaeltacht. Born and raised here, his daily view from his parents’ house was Mount Errigal sweeping down into the Atlantic Ocean.
Mr Diver said the attractiveness of the area makes it popular for holidays, which has led to a short supply of housing for locals.
He worked in New York for several years and came home in 2020 intending to raise his children in the Gaeltacht.
Unable to find a house to rent in the local area, his family lived in a mobile home for three years before finally securing accommodation.
"Before I went to America, you would have found a house easily enough," Mr Diver said.
"I didn't realise how much it had snowballed from Airbnb lets here in the four to five years I was gone.
"I went for a house here and the owner was using it as an Airbnb. He asked me what I was paying in rent a month, and I told him, and he said he could make that in a week on Airbnb."
Mr Diver, who grew up speaking Irish, said he has noticed the area is becoming home to an increasing number of people who only speak English. He said it is crucial that local Irish speakers can find affordable homes in the region.
"If it keeps going the way it's going, the Irish language is going to die out."
