A homeless charity has warned it's 'nearly impossible' for people to move out of emergency accommodation due to a shortage of affordable housing.

It comes as a survey of rental homes across the company has found just 41 properties - or 8% of the total - were affordable for people receiving rent assistance.

The Simon Communities report says a total of just 530 properties were being advertised on the Daft.ie website countrywide over three days in May.

That total is less than half the number recorded three years ago.

92% of the properties examined were available within Rent Supplement (RS)/Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) levels.

No properties for those receiving assistance were available in Galway city centre, Limerick city centre and Portlaoise.

Only a single property was available in each of five other areas - Athlone, Dublin city centre, North Kildare, Sligo town and Waterford city centre.

Simon Communities spokesperson Niamh Randall said it's 'problematic' that the Government's housing plans are heavily reliant on the private rental sector.

She argued: "Our figures clearly indicate that increases in RS/HAP limits introduced in July 2016 are no longer effective.

"It is nearly impossible for people, particularly single people, to move on from emergency accommodation and homeless services because there is nowhere for them to go."

She added: "People just cannot compete within this rental market – it’s really unfair."

The charity is also calling for an extension of rent pressure zones and a closing of loopholes that 'allow evictions to continue for reasons of sale or renovations'.