Even Oliver Twist got a room when he arrived in London but unfortunately for thousands of students across Ireland, that is not the case.
It is no secret that housing is a major issue in Ireland but this academic year has seen the highest numbers of homelessness amongst third-level students in several years, with many being forced to stay in hotels, carry out unnecessarily long commutes or even drop out.
This student housing crisis is not just the case for one university but many all over Ireland, leaving students stressed and concerned, wondering where they will have to stay the night.
As a plea to be heard, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) created a ‘No Keys, No Degrees’ campaign, followed by a protest on Thursday, September 23rd outside the Dáil. This protest saw several students camp overnight outside the Dáil in hopes that the government would take action and deem this ongoing crisis an emergency.
Beth O’Reilly, USI Vice-President for Campaigns and attendee of the protest, spoke to Classic Hits radio host Niall Boylan last Thursday about this emergency, calling on the government to “take action” and provide “purpose-built student accommodation”. Beth also pleaded for people to open up their homes to those students with nowhere to go.
Covid-19 has undoubtedly led to people being fearful of opening up their homes. The USI, however, are pleading for people to imagine their loved ones in the same scenario as students without accommodation. It is also worth mentioning that a person can earn up to €14,000 income, tax-free for renting a room in Ireland, something which may help convince a family to take in a student.
Technological University Dublin also recently published its 2021/2022 ‘Student Cost of Living Guide’, which determined that the average cost of a student living out in Dublin is roughly €13,872 a year, well above what most families can afford and a whole lot more than the SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland) grant provides. Extortionate rent, on top of the regular college contribution fees, has left students making extremely difficult decisions about their education and future.
Students are officially being priced out of their education and yet still the government makes no changes.
International student Natalia Núñez is currently studying for her Master’s at DCU. Natalia flew to Ireland on September 7th of this year and immediately began looking for accommodation in Dublin, which she would soon learn was not as easy to avail of as she had thought.
Due to the frightful housing situation, Natalia was forced to stay in a hotel for almost three weeks, paying between €70-120 a night, depending on the week. When she finally did find accommodation, she said she “felt very forced to take something”, as having any standard of accommodation was better than having none at all.
Unfortunately for many students, their worries are not over yet and they are still in the position of having to stay in a hotel just to attend college and if it continues much longer, will have to consider dropping out.
Ms. Núñez also mentioned the impact the whole situation had on her mental health, explaining how the college was “not very helpful” and how the whole process “makes you so tired” physically and mentally. Natalia gave advice to fellow students still looking for accommodation in Ireland.
“As hard as it is, people have to be very strong mentally as it’s an extremely difficult and long process”, she said. She also recommends turning on Daft notifications and calling letting agencies as much as possible, “to the point they know your name”.
The government and universities need to step up and support third-level students by introducing legislation to stop student housing from being turned into tourist accommodation. A long-term, sufficient and sustainable solution is needed fast.
As the protesters said on Thursday… “What do we want? Rent control! When do we want it? Now!”