Eleanor O’Mahony | Contributing Writer
Demand for the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Accommodation Advisory Service has more than doubled since last year, The University Times has learned. In 2013, 997 students used the service compared to 2,005 this year. The increase reflects what is an escalating rental crisis in Dublin.
The AAS, which is now closed for 2014 and is due to reopen in January 2015, opened this year on the 5th of August and received 750 emails, 571 phone calls and 578 visitors during its first nine weeks of operation. The AAS hired another company, collegeliving.ie, to help provide accommodation for TCD students in order to deal with this increased demand.
This company secured 60 extra beds in Marino Student Accommodation. Ian Mooney, TCDSU Welfare Officer, also distributed 20,000 flyers to households in local areas to appeal to them to rent out rooms to students which resulted in 200 extra beds being provided. However, Mooney believes that this is ‘a short-term solution to a long-term problem’. The service was set up by Orlaith Foley, an ex Welfare Officer of TCDSU, who continues to co-ordinate the AAS with the current Welfare Officer, Ian Mooney. Two other students are employed by the service. It serves to advise students on how to go about searching for accommodation. It also connects students to landlords, families renting rooms (‘digs’), and other students who are looking for accommodation.
This year the Accommodation Advisory Service noted a trend in higher rent prices. According to an AAS report, students paid an average of €550 per month for accommodation, excluding utilities. Mooney claimed that more students chose to live in digs this year as it was the affordable option. He also added that some students had been victims of scams, arriving in Dublin to find themselves without accommodation and their deposits paid. According to daft.ie, the availability of accommodation in Ireland went down by 40% this year. With more young professionals choosing to live in Dublin and the rise in student numbers, there has been an increasing number of people searching for accommodation with a limited number of places available.
Provost Patrick Prendergast expressed concern about the availability of accommodation at a Q&A hosted by TCDSU and the Phil on Monday 6th October. He told students that different properties were being looked at for purchase by the college as part of a plan to build more student accommodation. The Dean of Students has confirmed that Oisin House, on Pearse Street, will be refurbished to provide 300 rooms for students. These new installments should serve to ease the problem within a few years but the AAS remains concerned about 2015.
