Cork is bottom of the class in Ireland for housing students

The president of UCC students' union has called for the government to fund the construction of more publicly-owned student accommodation, saying that more college students are having to work to afford somewhere to live.

UCC’s Alex Angland said that every year more young people aspire to attending higher education, but the number of beds available has not adequately risen to meet the demand.

“Many of the new private accommodation complexes being built are also wholly unaffordable for the average Irish student," he said.

“For example, in Cork city, the cost to stay in UCC’s campus accommodation is on average between €6,000 and €7,000. This is in sharp comparison to the prices commonly charged in private complexes, which would normally range from €11,000 to €14,000.” 

He highlighted that UCC only has 1,540 beds, the lowest number per student in the university sector, and that Cork has the lowest rate of public ownership of purpose-built student accommodation in the country, at 18%, while the figure is 36% in Galway, 44% in Dublin and 56% in Limerick.

He described access to affordable accommodation as the single biggest barrier to education in the third-level sector.

“Many students cannot afford to leave home, and when they do, they must pay extortionate prices or settle for a room that is often damp, mouldy or not fit for purpose.

“When students cannot afford to pay premium rates, they must look at other options like private rentals or digs/ owner-occupied housing,” he said, calling for more tenancy protection in these sectors.

“We’ve all heard horror stories of students being evicted without warning, locked out of the house, or being denied access to key household amenities such as an oven or a washing machine.

There’s also recently been a noticeable increase in accommodation scams, mainly posing as private rentals, he noted.

The number of students working has also increased, Mr Angland said. “In UCC, 60% of students work outside of their full-time study, with one in five of those working more than 20 hours a week.” 

He highlighted that in the union’s cost of living report last year, from over 3,000 responses, 28% of students said that they had gone to lectures hungry.

“What I see as the solution to this ever-growing problem is for government investment to enable universities to build or acquire more publicly-owned purpose-built student accommodation. Otherwise, we face pricing a whole new generation out of further education, solely because of how close their parents live to a university,” he concluded.

Cork Labour Senator Laura Harmon said: “It is quite a stark reality that Cork has the lowest levels of purpose-built student accommodation in the country, with just 18% of student housing in the public sector.

“For a city with such a strong history of supporting students and welcoming a high proportion of international students, this oversight is a major let-down from government," she said.

“Student accommodation in Cork has become unattainable for many, with some providers charging highs of €18,000 for one room per academic year,” she added, calling on the government to support more publicly-owned student accommodation.