Students forgoing food and other essentials to pay rent, say UCC Students’ Union

The amount of rent paid by students attending UCC has increased by more than 50% since 2017, according to UCC Students’ Union.

Some often forgo buying food or healthcare products in order to pay for their accommodation, the union added in a response to a query from The Echo.

The average rent for a single bedroom was €592 per month in 2024, but this has increased by an average of 6% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the final three months of last year.

According to the students’ union data, this means that rent has increased by 51% since 2017. While UCC campus accommodation has space for 1,530 students, privately owned accommodation provides 7,500 beds.

A spokesperson for the students’ union described housing as the “most significant financial pressure” for students.

“Students often times cannot afford to pay the rents they are paying, forgoing other essential items such as healthcare, food, and sanitary products,” the spokesperson told The Echo. 

“It can be so difficult to find a room that students will accept anything, leading to some living in unsafe conditions, such as rooms with significant damp and mould.”

Students, the spokesperson said, are working “more hours than ever, just to get by”.

“We’ve seen a decrease in on-campus engagement and lecture attendance, again affecting what students are getting from the college experience — from academic output to involvement with extracurriculars,” they said.

The UCC Students’ Union’s recent Cost of Living Report found that two thirds of students said their health and wellbeing was “negatively impacted” by the cost of living which, they said, was “inextricably linked to the housing crisis”.

The union has called on the Government to publish a promised review on student accommodation as a priority, with the spokesperson saying it is imperative that it acts “on the provision of publicly-owned, purpose-built student accommodation with a new urgency”.