Several third-level colleges have increased on-campus accommodation costs again in 2024, some to the maximum allowed under the rules of rent pressure zones.
University College Dublin’s (UCD) Roebuck Castle, a catered, en suite apartment, is the most expensive accommodation on campus, charging €12,063.55 for the 2024/25 academic year, a 3.19 per cent increase from 2023/24.
UCD recently released details of their on-campus accommodation fees for the 2024/25 academic year with an increase across the board.
Village Three, which is on-campus student accommodation at UCD with single occupancy and an en suite, saw an increase of €138.10 or a 1.19 per cent increase from last year. The cost to rent this accommodation for the coming year will be €11,764.80.
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For the coming academic year, the cheapest accommodation at UCD is €5,666.44 for a village apartment twin room, a shared bedroom in Village One.
A UCD spokesperson said: “There has been a two per cent increase in the accommodation cost this year. The remaining percentage difference in cost between this year and last year is due to the different timespans of the rental. CAO students had a later start date last year, so they had a lesser accommodation timespan last year.”
At Dublin City University (DCU), Larkfield, accommodation with single occupancy rooms and shared bathroom facilities has increased by €190 or 3.2 per cent with the price now at €6,053 for the 2024/25 academic year.
DCU’s other available student accommodation on the Glasnevin campus, a Hampstead single en suite room has seen a 0.79 per cent increase while a single en suite room at College Park has had a 0.76 per cent increase.
A spokesman for DCU explained the percentage increase appears higher “as the earlier term start means an earlier move-in date and more nights spent in accommodation” but still represents the two per cent increase that is permitted.
Inflation was the reason behind increasing the on-campus accommodation fees, the college said, noting that “DCU saw an 82 per cent increase in electricity costs, a €2 million additional cost to the university in 2023”.
Taylor Keogh, a DCU student, stayed in campus accommodation for two years of her studies. She stayed at DCU’s St Patrick’s College accommodation in first year where she was studying primary school teaching, paid about €650 per month and shared a bathroom with eight other girls and a kitchen with everyone in the building. “It felt very chaotic and claustrophobic. It made it hard to eat food and cook for yourself,” she said.
“It’s run down and you don’t get a lot for what you pay … the only positive was that it was close to town on the bus.”
The following year she changed courses to multimedia and stayed in first-year accommodation on the Glasnevin campus, Larkfield. She paid €600 to €700 for rent and utilities.
“I shared one apartment but it was basically the size of one standard bedroom in a regular house so I don’t know if you can even call it an apartment.”
She shared the apartment with one other girl. “We both had single rooms, a tiny, tiny bathroom with a shower you could barely move in and a little kitchen connecting the two rooms. Although small, I appreciated not having to share a bathroom with so many people and finally having the room to cook.”
Keogh enjoyed living on campus. “It motivated me to go to class and join clubs and societies because I was never too far away.”
After that, she was unsuccessful in the campus accommodation lottery and stayed in private student accommodation. She is staying in private student accommodation for the coming academic year, her final year, also.
“On-campus has been the best price compared to any accommodation outside of campus that I have been in or looked at. An average price of €1,000 is pretty basic for most [private] accommodation these days and I don’t know how they expect people to pay that just for rent, never mind everything on top of that.”
In response, a DCU spokesman said: “DCU is the most affordable on-campus accommodation option for students in the Dublin area, with a range of different rooms and apartments available for students. DCU has planning permission for 1,235 new on-campus beds and is actively working to get phase one of that project, consisting of 405 beds, to a position where construction can commence — the greatest challenge is the sheer cost of construction and the knock-on effect that has in terms of the rental levels that students will have to pay.”
University of Limerick’s (UL) eight-bed Plassey Village, is now charging €5,343 for a student to stay in for the 2024/25 academic year, a 2.6 per cent increase on last year. Likewise, UL’s Quigley Complex, a two-bed apartment specifically for medical students, jumped from €8,438 to €8,668, a 2.7 per cent increase.
A UL spokesman said that in addition to paying the fee for room rental, students also prepay deposits for all utilities, energy costs and gym membership.
The rising cost of the on-campus accommodation has increased by the permitted 2 per cent and the remaining percentage increase relates to the additional costs such as utilities.
UL student life general manager Martin Ryan explained that the student experience has changed significantly. “In recent years, we have seen an accommodation crisis and a cost-of-living crisis erupt, both of which are seriously impacting students’ wellbeing,” he said.
Maynooth University’s on-campus student accommodation prices have increased by €91 since last year, now standing at €4,668 for a single room with a shared bathroom. Prices were also increased from €6,107 to €6,229, a 1.99 per cent increase for a single room with its own en suite bathroom.
However, University of Galway has decided to reduce or freeze the cost of most, but not all, of their on-campus student accommodation for a second year running, in an attempt to ease the pressure on students. This will apply to 57 per cent of the beds at the college.
At Corrib Village, the price was reduced for the standard twin, the standard single, the standard double, the shared en suite single, the shared en suite double, the private en suite single and the private en suite double — the equivalent of 764 beds. The reductions range from €66 to €118, depending on the room in question.
At Goldcrest Village and Dunlin Village on the Galway university’s campus, the price has been frozen on the 305 en suite single and the standard single beds. But the price has increased for their 798 en suite double, standard double and the standard plus double-bed rooms. The en suite double and standard double rooms have increased by €193 or 2.9 per cent, and the standard plus double-bedded rooms have increased by €154 or two per cent.
The college explained it had to borrow to build student accommodation with the newest development, Dunlin Village costing €95 million. It had to set rates at a level which meets the cost of borrowing.
A University of Galway spokesman said: “Our lowest rates are cheaper than they were in 2017; we have a wider range of price points and we are making instalments more manageable.”
Last year, Trinity College Dublin offered Heritage and Modern rooms which ranged in price from €6,520.32 per academic year for Pearse Street, a single en suite room, to €10,379.84 for a double or king-size en suite room at the Printing House Square.
Charges for the coming academic year are virtually identical at €6,520.33 to stay at Pearse Street and €10,379.88 for a double or king-size room at the Printing House Square.
University College Cork has kept its costs on par with last year, saying it is charging €147 per week for a single room, or €101.52 a week for a shared twin room, at its Castlewhite apartments — compared to €144 and €100 a week respectively in 2023/2024. UCC is charging €228.38 a week for a double en suite bedroom at Crow’s Nest, compared to €225 a week last year. “UCC Campus Accommodation provides 1,536 beds, consistently offered at affordable and below-market rates for purpose-built student housing in the city,” said a spokesman.
Student accommodation comes under the remit of the Residential Tenancies Board and most areas where student accommodation complexes are situated are in rent pressure zones (RPZ). In RPZs, the percentage increase in rent is capped at two per cent per year.
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