Student housing crisis getting worse, says UCD student union

UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) has launched a report revealing the impact of the acute shortage in beds for students who are enrolled in the Dublin university and other colleges across the country.

The report is a follow-up to its landmark report issued last year, which shaped the national conversation about the student housing crisis and the collapse of the student experience.

The report indicates that despite positive soundbites, there has been no meaningful improvement to the student housing landscape. Further to this, student representatives sense a degree of “buck passing” between policymakers and college authorities, concluding that both parties must do much more.

When UCDSU started surveying students three years ago, around 2/3 of respondents who do not live at home were paying in excess €750 per month for their accommodation. Our latest report has furnished around 3/4 of respondents saying this now. So the creep upwards is clear to see.

UCDSU advocates for a significant increase in the availability of on-campus or near-campus housing, ensuring that students have the opportunity to live close to their place of study. The report highlights the growing divide in the student experience at UCD, with a holistic student experience becoming a privilege rather than the norm. Accessibility to campus is crucial for getting the most out of life at UCD, and many students strongly desire to stay on or closer to campus.

UCD students were asked whether they would be willing to support parties that do not support UCDSU’s student housing asks. Some 70% said they would not, while the SU also got strong indications that students are prepared to take direct action on-campus.

Speaking on the launch of the report, UCDSU President Miranda Bauer said “we believe that affordable and quality housing is a fundamental right that should be available to every student. This follow-up report builds on our previous work and continues to highlight the urgent need for practical solutions to the housing challenges faced by students in UCD and across the island. We now need to see a manifestation of the duty of care that the State and higher education institutions have to students. Instead of the rise of student accommodation as an asset class, we need beds for brains. We want our voices heard as we approach an election.”

The findings of this report are based on the responses given to three anonymous surveys conducted online by UCDSU. A total of 1,886 respondents filled in the 2023 iteration. The completion of the 2022 and 2021 surveys by 1,553 and 963 respondents respectively provided a level of year-on-year comparisons and also laid bare the length of time that UCD students renting in Dublin have been impacted by this crisis.

Concluding that there will be no meaningful improvement to the availability of student beds in the short-term, the report restates students’ demands of the Government to address other pressing economic factors for students, namely the complete abolition of tuition fees and further reform of SUSI grant eligibility.