A FORMER Dublin Central TD has described a glut of recent planning applications for student accommodation in the North Inner City as a “gold rush” for the construction industry.
An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for a €250 million complex at Brunswick Street in Dublin 7 last December that will provide over 500 student accommodation rooms and a 491-bedroom student complex is under development at Kavanagh Court in Gardiner Street.
Former Labour TD Joe Costello says 3,300 units have received planning permission in Dublin Central over the past two years and most are now under construction.
Over 2,500 more units are awaiting the outcome of planning applications, some of which were submitted over the Christmas period.
Costello believes that despite the current shortage of residential property in the city, some developers are focussing on student accommodation because it’s more profitable.
“Two thousand on-campus units are already included in the plans for the DIT college at Grangegorman which is being constructed at present,” he said.
“In the space of only two years, an incredible 8,000 units have been placed in the pipeline. All of this student accommodation – with probably more to come – is located in the North Inner City.
“Large scale student housing complexes are unknown to Dublin or any other city in Ireland.
“The sheer density of such accommodation in a small area will create a huge imbalance with the existing residential population, place pressure on local services and give rise to a host of problems in local neighbourhoods.
“At the same time there is a chronic shortage of public and private residential housing in the local communities throughout the North Inner City. The cost of rental accommodation has rocketed and homelessness is at crisis levels.”
Costello claims developers are reluctant to build residential homes due to the 10 per cent social housing clause and because accommodation standards are more demanding.
The Labour Party representative called student accommodation a “win-win” for developers because of incentives to build.