University of Limerick announces new 80 bedroom student village

Amy Blaney

University of Limerick has announced plans for a new 20-house student village in a bid to address a student accommodation crisis.

The student village will be located in Rhebogue, 2km away from UL’s main campus, and will comprise of 20 A-rated houses and 80 bedrooms.

Construction of the houses is set to commence in September, and are due to be completed and in use by August 2023.

The new student village at Rhebogue will be constructed by a private developer and purchased by the university through the UL subsidiary Plassey Campus Centre adding a 9th student village to its portfolio.

In order to maintain affordable rental charges for students at the new UL student village, the university has estimated a 27-year period in which the capital costs will be fully recouped.

The student Village will be UL’s third off campus student village alongside Troy Village and Groody Village and will complement the six on campus villages, Dromroe Village, Cappavilla Village, Plassey Village, Thomond Village, Kilmurry Village and The Quigley Residence and bring the full bedroom stock to 2,915.

UL Provost and Deputy President Professor Shane Kilcommins said: “We are looking at every single possibility we can to try to meet the huge demand for accommodation for our student community. This new development at Rhebogue will allow for community and multi-generational living for our students among the existing vibrant community of Rhebogue.

“The village will be fully managed by the University in the same way as our on-campus accommodation and we very much hope to work with the residents of Rhebogue to establish local initiatives, volunteering and community engagement between the UL students along with our neighbours. We will be connecting with local resident’s associations to ensure they are fully informed of plan for the student village."