As predictable as the leaves browning, the end of summer heralds the annual student accommodation crisis, generating narratives of scrambling, scams, shortage and anguish. It is 60 years since the landmark OECD-sponsored report, Investment in Education, highlighted the inequalities of opportunity that then characterised the Irish education system, at a time when one-third of all Irish children left full-time education after their primary schooling. Ireland can now boast the highest rates of third-level education in the EU, and just over 206,000 full time students enrolled in third level. From 2020-2024 the number of international student enrolments increased by 33 per cent and the Government is targeting further increases.
Where those students who need rental accommodation will find it, however, remains a charged and difficult question. The shortfall in student rooms in Dublin alone is over 25,000. According to a KPMG report this year, 245 developments have received planning permission with a student capacity of 8,599, yet by March, construction was under way on less than one-third of these. Building costs, underfunding of third-level institutions and the neglect of purpose-built accommodation due to the austerity years and Covid are factors.
There is an acute lack of college-owned affordable rooms, and it is unreasonable to expect underfunded universities to provide enough themselves. Wider housing problems are also relevant; Government figures last year showed there were 48,000 private student beds, with two-thirds of them provided by the private sector.
In the last three years, a student accommodation unit and an expert advisory group on student accommodation have been established by government. It is imperative they address the State/ private sector imbalance, low-cost finance, 51-week leases and rent caps. When he was minister for higher education in 2023, Simon Harris said the priority was to enable “targeted groups to access accommodation at affordable rates”, but the dawn of a new academic year will, again, make these words seem hollow.
