The Simon Communities warn that a lack of affordable housing will continue to drive some people into homelessness.
The Locked Out report by the Simon Communities looked at the availability of housing for people on rental supports.
It found just four properties were available within standard housing assistance payment (HAP) limits for a single person.
Six two-bedroom units within standard HAP rates were available for a couple/one parent and one child across all 16 study areas.
Six of the 16 study areas did not have a single property available within either standard of discretionary HAP limits in any of the family categories.
95 percent of properties available within HAP limits were in Dublin.
There were 3,019 properties available to rent at any price within the 16 regional areas over in December 2020 – a "significant" 19 percent increase from September 2020.
There were 1,160 properties available under a HAP, a 57 percent increase on the 738 properties which were available with at least one HAP category in the September study.
But according to the report: "In six of the 16 areas, there were no properties available to rent in any category within standard or discretionary Rent Supplement/Housing Assistance Payment HAP limits.
Those areas were Galway City Centre, Limerick City Suburbs, Limerick City Centre, Sligo Town, Portlaoise and Waterford City Centre."
Athlone had just one property within any HAP limit, and Galway city suburbs had just three properties within any HAP limit.
Wayne Stanley, head of policy and communications at the Simon Communities of Ireland said: "We are concerned that when the restrictions are eventually lifted, we’ll go back to where we were or worse as we haven’t seen the full effect of fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We need greater discretion on HAP payments for local authorities outside Dublin. Allocation of local authority housing across Ireland to get people out of homelessness combined with a programme of building that’s going to provide the needed level of social and affordable housing."
One example of the struggle to source accommodation outside Dublin is Jonathan, a 30-year-old who has overcome addiction problems and began looking for a one-bedroom HAP accommodation in Galway last July and has searched daily for suitable apartments and has had no success.
The report said: "Although he quickly expanded his search beyond the city to the entire county of Galway, Jonathan has been invited to view just four properties in total.".
