It’s no secret that finding any, let alone affordable, student accommodation in Dublin is about as easy as going a week in the city without a single drop of rain. For Trinity students, a few on-campus accommodation options, as well as third-party schemes, are organised by the university itself, including Trinity Hall, Goldsmith Hall, Kavanagh Court, and the (relatively) new additions in Printing House Square. While the label “affordable” is far from applicable for these, it should, in theory, be a comfort for incoming or continuing students, especially those from overseas, to know that the College is, to some extent, arranging a place for them to stay. However, anyone who has since become familiar with these humble abodes understands they can be anything but comfortable. Maintenance and living issues are a common theme when asking any Trinity housing residents about their experience living in campus accommodation: leaky apartments, deteriorating walls and mouldy bathrooms . . . not exactly what you’d expect from residences run by Trinity itself.
As a Junior Fresh student currently living in Trinity Hall, or “Halls”, as it has affectionately been dubbed, I, unfortunately, have personal experience in the maintenance issues mentioned above. During Storm Chandra, I woke up one morning to the carpet in the area below my window soaked through with rain. After reaching out to Trinity Hall maintenance and talking to my flatmates and friends about it, I quickly learned I wasn’t the only one. The number of leakages had skyrocketed in Halls, and maintenance staff were heading around the entire site, handing out towels and, later, bringing in carpet cleaner. One of my friends’ apartments was completely flooded due to the rain gutters near one of their windows not having been cleaned properly, meaning rain had seeped through. A dehumidifier was installed at their flat in the morning to ensure it was dry within the day.
While the leaks were certainly not ideal, one must consider the abnormally heavy storm and floods throughout Ireland. This was not just a Halls hazard, and the maintenance team, as well as the Accommodation Office, were on-site to help all students in trouble.
The experience of another resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of her testimony’s impact on a resolution, presented a much less flattering image of Trinity Hall, however. She explained that she had had issues with leakage in her room since November and had reached out to the Halls maintenance team and the Accommodation Office repeatedly for months, asking for a fix. Her troubles were not just a carpet leak: one of her walls was quite literally crumbling apart due to the water damage, which left an unpleasant smell in her room as well as a plant growing near the bottom of the wall. This problem had been actively worsening since November, and although measures were taken by the Halls staff to repair the disintegrating wall, none of them lasted.
The Halls inhabitant said of the housing complications: “It was frustrating spending so much time and energy trying to find a solution to what I considered a very urgent and distracting problem.” She had reached out to different parties in Trinity Accommodation to find a solution for the decay. While the maintenance team came in to repair the wall on three different occasions, the problem persisted. She mentioned that she requested some sort of refund on account of these substandard living conditions in multiple of her emails, but that this query was brushed off each time. Most recently, she sent in an official complaint to the Accommodation Office as a last resort for more clarity on the repair plan and a request for lower rent. Only now, three months later, has she been offered a different room to move to, but there has still been no response in terms of money.
A spokesperson for the Accommodation Office commented on the heavy increase in Halls leakages in an official statement, saying: “From time to time, a limited number of locations in Trinity Hall experience leak issues. However, following the prolonged recent period of unseasonably heavy rainfall, the number of areas impacted has indeed increased. Estates and Facilities and the Accommodation Office continue to place student residents at the heart of their approach to operating and maintaining safe and comfortable accommodation across all of our campus locations.” Clearly, Storm Chandra has thrown a wrench in the usual maintenance routine. They continued with their plan of action: “Specifically, in response to the recent heavy rain, the Accommodation Office will keep a live log of all leaks, including the dates they occur, to prioritise and schedule remedial works. Estates and Facilities will immediately engage with suitably experienced consultants and contractors to investigate the root causes of the leaks further. This will allow Estates and Facilities to prioritise the most severely affected areas for early action. Allied to this, our planned preventative as well as reactive services which includes a 24/7 support service, will continue to be in place to support all relevant issues.”
While the Accommodation Office’s statement was focused on Trinity Hall, there remain other examples of maintenance mishaps and less-than-ideal living conditions in other Trinity housing locations. For example, the air pollution issues in Botany Bay last year or the issues of mould in Printing House Square two years ago. On the topic of decay, Keira Canavan, a Kavanagh Court resident, confirmed her bathroom has had spots of mould growing along the ceiling for several months. She made Kavanagh Court employees aware of this issue in early December, assuming it would be rectified over Christmas break. Two months later, the rot remains, without a word from Kavanagh maintenance about its removal: “I’m left trying to spend as little time as possible in my own bathroom in order to stay away from the mould”, she said.
Canavan also referenced a widespread inconvenience in Kavanagh Court, saying, “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen the laundry mat without a broken machine.” Some of the laundry machines will display an error message, but dryers running a full cycle while still leaving the laundry load soaked at the end are, unfortunately, a regular occurrence. Because of this, “doing a load of laundry means spending hours battling with different machines and trying to get in touch with the customer service for the laundry company to figure out what the problem is and try to get a refund.” For a third-party accommodation in collaboration with Trinity that charges €300 per week at the lowest, Kavanagh’s financial burden for its inhabitants does not seem to guarantee functional appliances or even bathrooms fit for use.
All in all, what should be a safe, clean, and comfortable environment for naive newcomers and Trinity titans, accommodation does not seem to be living up to the shiny picture of campus accommodation. Between rain leakages, room or appliance breakages, plant and mould growth, one is left wondering if the Accommodation Office should take a closer look at their regular maintenance procedure. Yes, beggars can’t be choosers, and living in Dublin is expensive in any quarter. But one thing Trinity students should be able to expect from official College living spaces is a smooth stay ensured by the accommodation team they’re paying their rent – and technically, tuition fees – to. Let’s make these Halls a habitable home.
