“Extortionately priced for bare minimum living standards.”
This is how Cathal Murphy, a second year Economics student, described purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in Ireland, justifying his decision to look for private rented housing instead. It is a far cry from the usual depiction of PBSA as luxury accommodation.
As the start of the academic year nears, pressure is mounting for students to find accommodation in time. But the country’s rental market is not in their favour: a 2024 report by the University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) found that over three-quarters of survey respondents who live away from home are paying €750 or more per month for accommodation during term time. This figure has notably increased from two-thirds of respondents in 2021 paying as much, compared to the current three-quarters.
This hike in rent prices can be partly attributed to the surge in popularity of PBSA. Their buildings generally consist of ensuite rooms, shared kitchens and communal areas, as well as facilities such as gyms, study areas and even cinemas that are included in the rent. These highly sought after rooms therefore tend to cost a lot of money. Corporations offering PBSA such as Yugo, Fresh, and Aparto seek to dominate the student accommodation market, with Yugo coming out on top as the largest operator of student accommodation in Ireland.
“PBSA is essentially pay to play: students who can afford it can have it…”
On the one hand, it can be significantly more convenient to book a room in PBSA than to source private rented accommodation as rooms are assigned on a first come, first served basis. There is no need to compete for a landlord’s attention in hopes of finding a place to stay, or attend viewings over the summer for those non-Irish students who return home. PBSA is essentially pay to play: students who can afford it can have it, provided they book early enough.
In this sense, PBSA helps many students navigate the housing crisis, and helps to mitigate the increase in demand for student accommodation in the wake of an 18% rise in full-time students in Ireland in the last decade. In 2017, the National Student Accommodation Strategy identified PBSA as the principal solution to this demand. But, in hindsight, the massive expansion of PBSA appears to be exploiting students rather than helping them.
Problems arise when room prices are so high that they exclude a large portion of students, which is the situation the majority of students are currently facing. The cheapest room in Yugo Kavanagh Court, which College has an exclusive partnership with, sets students back €314 per week. While this does include bills, for many, spending this much on rent is unfeasible.
Soaring rent is leading some students to seek accommodation elsewhere. On her decision to part ways with PBSA, Katherine Goldammer, a second-year BESS student, said that it boiled down to it “being cheaper to live alone in Rathmines than in Dublin One with five other people”. For Goldammer, paying a premium for the convenience of PBSA was not worth it, particularly when factoring in what she views as the “terrible location” of Kavanagh Court, which is situated on Gardiner Street.
Aside from the ease with which PBSA can be booked, another benefit that is emphasised by these corporations is the heightened student experience they offer, which is absent in digs and private rented accommodation. For example, regularly scheduled social events are held in Kavanagh Court, especially attractive to incoming first year students who did not secure a spot in Trinity Halls.
But Goldammer lamented the “lack of community” in Kavanagh Court, suggesting that PBSA is actually far behind university-owned accommodation in terms of social offerings and calling into question whether students should be so keen to pay a premium for these supposed benefits.
“Corporations are aware of this reliance and eager to exploit it”
Whether or not they ought to be, students are increasingly reliant on PBSA out of necessity. Corporations are aware of this reliance and eager to exploit it. In January 2024, Yugo started offering 51-week leases only, a decision that would see many students forced to spend around €3,000 total for a room they wouldn’t use during the summer months.
While this may not impact postgraduate students who would likely occupy their rooms for nearly the entirety of the 51 weeks, undergraduates criticised this move as exploitative, pricing out even more students from PBSA. Following student backlash, the government took action, signing the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2024 into law this July 12. This essentially prevents student specific leases from exceeding 41 weeks, except in cases where the student requests a longer tenancy duration.
Yet, this act will not cancel nor correct the 51-week leases already signed by the current student cohort. This has led many to underline the importance of expanding university-owned accommodation which may better serve students in the long run. Currently, 66% of student beds are privately owned, leaving a huge portion of students at the mercy of the free market.
College has obtained planning permission for student accommodation in Dartry that would create 358 student beds, however, funding is lacking. Responding to a parliamentary question, Patrick O’ Donovan, Minister for Further and Higher Education, has said he is “continuing to work across government to identify potential sources of funding to progress the short- and long-term policies and programmes for student accommodation”. But currently, there is no additional funding available under the National Development Plan.
“Trinity’s SU has created its own handbook called ‘How to Find a Gaff’”
In light of the toll the housing crisis has taken on students, the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has created its own handbook called “How to Find a Gaff” which can be found on its website. Replete with explanations concerning different types of student accommodation, tenancy rights and accessing College support services, TCDSU Welfare and Equality Officer Hamza Bana underscored the importance of not giving up when it comes to house hunting.
Additionally, TCDSU along with four other students’ unions recently held a Digs Drive to encourage homeowners to rent their rooms out to students. 3,500 leaflets were distributed and the campaign was covered on national television and in three national newspapers.
Speaking to Trinity News, Bana directed his advice to those students still struggling to find a place, stating: “the accommodation hunt is daunting to say the least [but] keep scanning Daft.ie and Rent.ie. To avoid seeing properties that you have already viewed, filter your search to properties added to the market within the last 24 hours. TCDSU also [has] their own website to view rental properties specifically for Trinity students via the tcdsuaccommodation.org website.”
Despite the work of students’ unions, colleges and the government to protect students in Ireland from exploitation, it is clear that the housing crisis will not be solved overnight. This unfortunate reality is driven home by “lack of urgency” around the Dartry project, identified by the Union of Students Ireland (USI) and TCDSU. Consequently, students will be forced to navigate murky terrain as they search for a place to stay not only for next year, but for years to come.
