The first thing that should be said on the issue of housing is very simple: these problems are nothing new. Any amount of research will show this, go online and you’ll find many articles written on the subject over the past five to ten years.

The numbers change, the stories don’t. Dublin’s students are living in broken down flats, being extorted in digs or catching pneumonia from damp in the walls; the list goes on. Rather than focus on horror stories reported online or in print, it’s better to look at why this is happening and why this problem is not fading away.

The University Observer spoke to two UCD students and the UCD Students' Union's Accommodations Officer to get their front-line views. Rokas Stasiškis, a first year Computer Science student, lives in Cherrywood, roughly 45 minutes away from Belfield.

He is paying around €700 a month for a room in an apartment. This is one of the most common scenarios facing students in Dublin. Stasiškis came to UCD from the UK, and says that having lived previously in Cardiff and Essex, the price of accommodation was considerably higher in Dublin.

Stasiškis’ main problem while searching was that even when going to the extreme of his budget, the quality was not there; “it’s pretty grim… the standard for the prices.” Some of the nicer places for roughly €600 a month were only digs: five days a week for €600.

This is just not practical for most students, and is unrealistic and unfair. In Cherrywood, though he hasn’t encountered horror-story levels of problems, there have been difficulties with heating and hygiene, plus the usual difficulties of sharing a flat.

To read the rest of this article please follow this link: universityobserver.ie/features/the-unreal-estate-of-student-housing/