Student Accommodation Crisis: ‘Instead of being a junk press, a single mattress was put in… I was living there.’

EMMA HANRAHAN CO-LEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS HUGH DOOLEY

CO-LEAD OF INVESTIGATIONS

Ashortage of accommodation near colleges this year has left students facing commutes of several hours, others paying significant sums in rent, and in one case a student was sleeping in a cupboard under a stairs for a period.

Students’ Unions had criticised the Government and universities for failing to do more to help students who were struggling to find housing ahead of this current college year, warning people would have to defer their education as a result.

Seán Hogan, a student in University of Limerick (UL), spent the first number of weeks of this college year sleeping in a friend’s house, in a cupboard under the stairs just big enough to fit a mattress.

“Instead of being a junk press, a single mattress was put in … I was living there and everyone was kinda joking about it,” Mr Hogan said. “I was like, compared to the reality of spending two hours in a car every day, paying for fuel, and all the associated costs with that, it would be considerably easier,” he said.

After taking last year out, Ms. Choudhry says that “coming back to college after a year out of education has certainly been a bit daunting and stressful.” The student said she was also unable to get any work or study done during the commute as public transport was “so crowded”.

“There’s a constant sense of anxiety about making the next bus and making the next train”, she said. “I generally tend to skip lectures as well, because of the commute. I think it’s more bang for my buck if I am staying at home and studying uninterrupted,” she said. Rental accommodation near the Belfield campus was simply too expensive, she said.

Ms. Choudhry said group projects are “really hard” to facilitate, as many students were living outside of Dublin and had to commute home after lectures. “One of my group projects had to be done entirely online because one of the girls in my group was unable to find accommodation in Dublin and was living at home in Donegal,” she said.

“My student experience can be defined by just waiting for trains and buses, being in a rush to get college work done. I’m spreading myself so thin between the commuting, the working, and trying to have somewhat of a social life as well as working,” she said.

One student, who did not wish to be named, said they had to defer their final year studying commerce in UCD as the cost of rent was too high. The student said deferring the year had lifted a weight off their shoulders, between the stress of working longer hours and completing college work. “I know I should return

[next year] but it’s hard to say at the moment,” they said.

Mr. Hogan, who is studying physics and chemistry with teaching, said the situation was “not ideal”. Living in Co. Clare before the college year started, the student said the traffic driving to UL in the morning would have left him with a two hour commute some days. He looked for accommodation but was unable to find any in his budget before classes began last September. After sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs for several weeks, he was able to find accommodation with his partner.

Mahnoor Choudhry, a final year law student in University College Dublin, has a commute of up to two hours to the South Dublin university from Balbriggan, in North Co. Dublin. “It’s crazy because I still live in Dublin, but the commute takes me as long as it would take somebody outside of Dublin commuting to UCD,” she said.

Falaena Rothwell, is an American from California in her final year studying Politics at UCD, renting an apartment in Donnybrook with her younger sister, who sleeps on a bed in the living room.

The rent is €1680 a month, but bills and utilities are not included, which is an issue during the colder winter months. The pair have been served an eviction notice by their landlord to leave the property by next May, and already have been stressed trying to source alternative accommodation.

Ms. Rothwell said her sister had been “freaking out” about being evicted and trying to find a new rental home during college exams in May. The sisters have already begun searching for new accommodation but found most options are “too far away, too expensive or only available five days out of the week,” she said.

Colm, a Video Game Design student in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, said he had moved back to his family home in Co. Wicklow, due to a lack of decent housing in Dublin. Colm said he had been renting a small room for €605 a month. “You could fit a bed and a desk and that was it,” he said.

Now he leaves his house at 6.30am to travel to college and gets home after his part-time job at 9pm. “I probably run on an average of about like three and a half to five hours of sleep, depending on the day,” he said.

The long commute has left him “running on fumes” between his studies and part-time work, he said. The student said he was looking to rent somewhere near his campus, that was affordable and a “liveable space”, but felt at this point such accommodation “just doesn’t exist.”