The Minister for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has promised to work for a legal solution to the high cost of student accommodation amid anger on several campuses over housing.
In a video statement posted on Twitter, Mitchell O’Connor said: “I’m very aware of the spiralling costs of student accommodation.” Her statement comes after last night’s debate on a private members bill that aims to offer better protection for the rights of students living in rented accommodation.
Mitchell O’Connor said that she had asked the Attorney General “for advice on legislation to include purpose-built student accommodation under rental pressure zone designation”. She also promised that the targets set out by the government to provide 7,000 extra student beds by the end of 2019 would be exceeded. By 2024, 21,000 extra student beds will be provided, she said.
The student accommodation bill was brought to the Dáil by Sinn Féin and sought to amend the Residential Tenancies Act by giving students living in student accommodation access to the Residential Tenancies Board and inclusion in rent pressure zones.
The government did not oppose the bill, which received widespread support. The debate focused on the dominance of the private sector in the provision of student housing.
Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson on Housing, Planning & Local Government, Eoin O Broin, said at the debate: “We have a great opportunity to speak with one voice – that we stand with students.” “Students will have the protections they need”, he said.
Mitchell O’Connor said that the “recent excessive rent increases” were cause of “significant concern”.
In a press statement ahead of the debate, Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President Michael Kerrigan said: “Legislation like this would mean that student accommodation providers would have to adhere to the rent pressure zone legislation. It’s time we stopped treating students like cash cows.”
Political will has galvanised around the issue of student accommodation in recent months after students in Dublin City University (DCU), followed by students in NUI Galway, staged high-profile protests in response to rent hikes by private housing companies.
The President of DCU, Brian MacCraith, called for better regulation of the student accommodation sector.
The government last summer launched the national student accommodation strategy, which called on homeowners to rent rooms out to students and which also proposed increased partnerships between universities and private student accommodation companies. The strategy was launched at the site of Trinity’s new purpose-built student accommodation complex, Oisin House, which will house 250 students.
