With Leaving Cert and CAO results out, now the scramble is underway for tens of thousands of students to find somewhere to live for the upcoming semester. While the majority of the students seeking accommodation will be new entrants, an ever larger amount of those seeking accommodation are in the later years of their Undergrad, and even some Masters and PhD students. The housing crisis has severely affected third level students, and it could be this particular sector that is the key to resolving the housing crisis.
In the early 2010s most students in Limerick lived within close proximity of their third level institute, that is of course if they were renting accommodation and not living at home for the duration of their education. Many students had lived either on campus or in nearby private housing estates which have been transformed into de facto student villages by private landlords. But this is proving to be more and more costly for students, with on campus accommodation at the University of Limerick now ranging from €5,000 - €8,000 per academic year, which means that this cost only covers from September to May, with the units then cleared out and let to visitors over the summer period.
Now students in Limerick can be found in any part of the city, and even some parts of the county. What was designed as affluent suburban areas are now becoming the only option for students to live. Monaleen, Annacotty, Caherdavin, Dooradoyle, are all becoming more heavily populated with students, and it makes sense for students to do so. Unscrupulous landlords are charging the same price for what I can only describe as dumps, as modern homes in private estates. Many students are willing to walk an extra twenty minutes or drive an extra five minutes to university to have a decent place to live.
If three students rent a house for €1,500 per month, they then end up paying €6,000 for the entire year, which is cheaper than on campus accommodation for only the academic year, and only slightly more expensive than substandard off campus accommodation. Students can't be blamed for the actions of greedy landlords and third level institutes that fail to invest in student accommodation, while spending millions on random sites across the city.
However if the institutes decided to invest in providing affordable accommodation for their students, it could resolve a lot of the problems. But I feel this will require government intervention with the rather autonomous institutions, and the current government prefer to allow the market to resolve the situation, unless of course it comes to bailing out said market when it collapses.
But building large amounts of 4-bed apartments on campus, or at least within walking distance of the institute would be better for the environment, for students, and for the institution itself. They could also purchase land on the outskirts of the city to build the accommodation cheaper, and then provide a shuttle bus which would be included in the rental price. The amount of options is enormous, all it will take is some willpower to resolve the problem.
With students then living on campus, it would allow the housing market to stabilise in suburban residential areas, and allow for families to move in as was always intended and planned for. It would significantly reduce the rental demand in the areas, and result in house prices becoming affordable for families once again, as investors would no longer purchase these family homes to rent out as four or five individual rooms. But while institutions continue to increase the intake of students without providing additional accommodation, we will continue to see more and more residential estates become no-go-zones at certain times of the year due to an unsupervised and unpoliced student population, which could be somewhat regulated in on-campus accommodation.
In the early 2010s most students in Limerick lived within close proximity of their third level institute, that is of course if they were renting accommodation and not living at home for the duration of their education. Many students had lived either on campus or in nearby private housing estates which have been transformed into de facto student villages by private landlords. But this is proving to be more and more costly for students, with on campus accommodation at the University of Limerick now ranging from €5,000 - €8,000 per academic year, which means that this cost only covers from September to May, with the units then cleared out and let to visitors over the summer period.
Now students in Limerick can be found in any part of the city, and even some parts of the county. What was designed as affluent suburban areas are now becoming the only option for students to live. Monaleen, Annacotty, Caherdavin, Dooradoyle, are all becoming more heavily populated with students, and it makes sense for students to do so. Unscrupulous landlords are charging the same price for what I can only describe as dumps, as modern homes in private estates. Many students are willing to walk an extra twenty minutes or drive an extra five minutes to university to have a decent place to live.
If three students rent a house for €1,500 per month, they then end up paying €6,000 for the entire year, which is cheaper than on campus accommodation for only the academic year, and only slightly more expensive than substandard off campus accommodation. Students can't be blamed for the actions of greedy landlords and third level institutes that fail to invest in student accommodation, while spending millions on random sites across the city.
However if the institutes decided to invest in providing affordable accommodation for their students, it could resolve a lot of the problems. But I feel this will require government intervention with the rather autonomous institutions, and the current government prefer to allow the market to resolve the situation, unless of course it comes to bailing out said market when it collapses.
But building large amounts of 4-bed apartments on campus, or at least within walking distance of the institute would be better for the environment, for students, and for the institution itself. They could also purchase land on the outskirts of the city to build the accommodation cheaper, and then provide a shuttle bus which would be included in the rental price. The amount of options is enormous, all it will take is some willpower to resolve the problem.
With students then living on campus, it would allow the housing market to stabilise in suburban residential areas, and allow for families to move in as was always intended and planned for. It would significantly reduce the rental demand in the areas, and result in house prices becoming affordable for families once again, as investors would no longer purchase these family homes to rent out as four or five individual rooms. But while institutions continue to increase the intake of students without providing additional accommodation, we will continue to see more and more residential estates become no-go-zones at certain times of the year due to an unsupervised and unpoliced student population, which could be somewhat regulated in on-campus accommodation.
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