MTU to have its own student housing with plan for up to 940 beds

Munster Technological University is to get student accommodation for the first time, with around 1,000 beds planned under new government proposals.

James Lawless, further and higher education minister, has announced a scheme to deliver thousands of new third-level student beds.

An expression of interest (EOI) process published on Wednesday invited interested parties from the construction and development sectors to play a role in shaping the future of student accommodation in Ireland.

More than 3,000 beds are planned nationwide, including approximately 940 at MTU’s Cork campus.

The Echo previously revealed that Cork has the lowest amount of public-built student accommodation, at 18%, with Dublin far surpassing this figure, at 46%, Galway at 36%, and Limerick at 56%.

This will be the first student accommodation for MTU, with the university’s president, Maggie Cusack, recently telling the Oireachtas that not being able to provide places for students to live meant many had to commute, and that it “saddens” her to see large queues of traffic every day.

Ms Cusack said: “There is absolute gridlock. That is the only way to describe it.

“There are a lot of complaints from neighbours, and understandably so.

“The length of time students spend in cars is appalling. We have heard comments about the poor student experience and the opportunities they miss.”

As well as traffic gridlock, housing estates near colleges have become student car parks, with one neighbour recently telling The Echo that students “have just taken over” their estate, and that there are 300 student cars parked there some days.

“The students have nowhere to park. They’re all driving because they can’t afford the rent, so they’re coming to our estate and abandoning their cars there,” she said.

Site assessments have been provided for MTU and for the other three sites to assist developers.

The EOI process will gather information to identify any barriers to development and determine suitable viable sites for student accommodation, while also assessing the extent to which student accommodation can be delivered at or below market rent.