Government officials have expressed serious concerns that students could face “significantly increased rents” if more than 2,500 student accommodation beds currently housing international protection applicants are not promptly returned to the market.
Documents obtained by the Irish Examiner through Freedom of Information requests reveal that as of August last year, 2,538 student beds were under contract with the Department of Integration. These included 534 beds at Cork Student Village, 345 at Hubble in Dublin, 158 at Punches in Limerick, and 370 at Benbulbin Court in Sligo.
In July 2023, then Minister for Further and Higher Education Patrick O’Donovan wrote to Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman requesting a review of the protocol between the departments. The existing agreement allowed the Department of Integration to contract with student accommodation providers if the property had not operated as student housing in the previous 12 months.
“My position is that all accommodation designed and built for students should be retained and utilised for that purpose, in accordance with Government policy to address the supply of student accommodation under Housing For All,” O’Donovan stated in his letter.
O’Donovan expressed particular concern about the implications for rent controls, noting that the Residential Tenancies Act 2019 protects students with rent pressure zone caps. He warned that accommodation returning to student use after a two-year absence could see operators setting rents “significantly higher than what will be permitted under the RPZ rent caps.”
“Availability of affordable student accommodation is cited as being one of the most significant barriers to students accessing and progressing through third-level education,” he emphasized, calling for the return of beds “as soon as practical to ensure that they remain affordable to students.”
According to The Irish Examiner, the Department of Integration has since confirmed plans to return approximately 1,800 beds in former student accommodation centers to the market. However, the relocation of Ukrainian refugees from state-contracted accommodation has been temporarily paused where contractually possible.
“We appreciate that this is not easy for people currently residing in these properties but have always maintained that State-funded accommodation for people fleeing the war in Ukraine is temporary and subject to change,” a department spokesperson added.