The idea of living away from home while studying at university may seem like great fun to many. No parents, no curfews, living with friends – what’s not to like?
Yet, the reality of skyrocketing rents and unfair living situations puts many students in a difficult place.
Dublin’s student accommodation fiasco has reached a critical point, with many students struggling to find affordable housing in the city.
Increasingly high rents and limited availability have made securing a place to live next to impossible, forcing some to commute long distances or consider deferring their studies altogether.
Students find themselves at the sharp end of the crisis, competing with professionals and families for rooms and apartments far beyond their budget.
Most students only have time to work a part-time job, if they can afford to work at all as heavy workloads in college keep their hands tied.
So, how can they compete with full-time earners – especially when the full-time earners can’t afford housing either?
Avery Vogt, a 20-year-old student from Minnesota, has attended University College Dublin to study environmental science for the last three years.
She tells The Liberty of her experience with student accommodation in Dublin.
Before she first enrolled, Avery says she sent out 1,500- 2,000 enquiries for an apartment and got four viewings in response. None were affordable enough for her to live here over the summer months.
“I’ve lived in two on-campus accommodations, and my current one is off-campus. The cheapest rent is €900 a month.
“In my first year, I shared two kitchens with 14 other people – there was no hot water or oven.”
She feels landlords are greedy, especially towards younger students, who are faced with the difficult choice of being able to afford to move out of home to attend third-level education when it comes to their rent and their rights as tenants.
When asking for help or reporting a fault in her accommodations, either nothing was done, or she was given a response far too late.
“For the money I’ve been paying, which can be up to €1,200 a month, the conditions are not up to standard. I expected more.”
Her rent is coming out of huge student loans which are extremely difficult to manage.
Avery has a job as well as her studies but said her wages don’t cover anywhere near her rent which is a huge reflection of the cost of living crisis.
This is someone who doesn’t have a choice to commute and has moved in hopes of a more positive college experience than she thought she would have in the US – yet the debt is already building up due to outrageous prices for below-average living conditions.
UCD on-campus accommodation can range from €870 per month for the smallest, most basic room, to almost €2k for the bigger spaces with more private kitchens.
A pricey affair for students.
Technological University Dublin (TUD) is another prominent Irish university, with thousands of students in need for accommodation in order to study here.
Jack O’Connor, a third-year student in TUD Grangegorman, discusses his accommodation.
Jack, from Sligo, explains he also struggled to find anywhere to live before he started college. He searched all over Dublin and had to settle on paying very high prices just to be near campus.
“It’s not affordable for a student. I’m very lucky that my parents have a good income and can pay, but for those with one or no parents, there wouldn’t be a hope of being able to afford it.”
Commuting was not an option for Jack as it would take over three hours to make it to Dublin from Sligo, and then a 40-minute walk to college – meaning he would have to leave at 5am for a 9am lecture.
“I couldn’t be any closer to college which is good, I’m just a two-minute walk away. But the money is just extortionate.”
For his accommodation – off campus – he pays €11,000 per academic year.
What can be done to help students?
With the announcement of the budget in the last week, we’ve learned that the government will be reducing student fees by €1,000, taking some weight off young people’s shoulders financially.
Rental tax credits also rose by €250, to €1,000.
Renters with RTB can now claim up to a grand, but those who live with their landlords or simply not registered with RTB cannot access this money.
Students in Ireland must face unfair prices, student debt, ridiculous commutes or dropping out altogether due to our student housing.
Let’s hope there’s more representation in next year’s budget.