Student accommodations are not meeting the demand from students   

With demand for housing in Dublin city still pushing prices higher, third-level students are facing difficulties with finding accommodation at an affordable price. 

Thousands of students have come to Dublin to continue their studies this autumn, as in-person education resumes. 

There are brand new student accommodation buildings throughout Dublin 8 and 7, with names like ‘Aparto’, ‘Uninest’, ‘From Here’, and ‘Highlight’. 

Some of these new properties can accommodate around 300 to 400 students in one building. 

Some buildings have social areas for their residents such as gyms, study rooms and cinemas. 

There was controversy recently when it was revealed that during the pandemic that some student-accommodation providers got permission to switch to providing short rentals to tourists and others.

“We opened our 319 bedroom accommodation in August. As a purpose-built student accommodation so we can only rent our rooms to students,” the assistant manager at Highlight student accommodation, Anavel Canavate Gajete, told The Liberty.

“We are allowed to rent some of our rooms to tourists during summer time but during the academic year we can only accept students.”

Some students are being forced to stay in hotels while they search for accommodation due to the lack of availability and sky high prices. 

“I was looking for my room on Daft.ie and searched through many accommodation websites. I emailed them – some of the householders and student accommodations replied to me and said I have to share my room with two or three people or offered rooms for unreasonable prices,” Hae-In Byun, a student in Griffith College, told the Liberty.

Byun looked for a single room in student accommodation in the Liberties area for two months.

Eventually he opted to stay in Cork because he could not find suitable accommodation in the capital. As a result of this, he is spending a large amount of money commuting from Cork to Dublin. 

I stayed in a hotel for 5 days and hostels from Airbnb for 8 days before I found a room.

Hae-In Byun, student in Griffith College.

“It was very stressful that I have to get the train and bus from Cork to Dublin three times a week just to find student accommodation or view a single room.

“Eventually college was just about to begin so I stayed in a hotel for five days and hostels from Airbnb for eight days before I found a room. 

“I found student accommodation for the price of €1,300 per month. It’s located beside Heuston station, a 30-minute walk from my college. But it’s quite a bit farther than I expected.”