Student accommodation is a serious problem in Ireland at the moment.
Ireland is currently going through a housing crisis. On Sunday, you may have noticed an absolute travesty of a ‘two-bedroom shared apartment‘, which perfectly epitomises the state of housing in the country.
And as dreadful as the situation is for the people of Ireland, it’s especially difficult for students.
Having completed an extremely difficult year and finished their Leaving Cert examinations, it is a real shame that students then have to worry about finding somewhere to live, while also ensuring that they’re not paying a crazy amount to do so.
The situation has led to protests from students in recent times, including a protest by DCU students last year when the well-known Shanowen student accommodation were charging up to €10,000 on a nine-month lease for tiny apartments located beside the college.
Now it’s Maynooth University standing up to these excessive prices.
Over the weekend, Maynooth Students Union President Leon Diop posted a message he had sent on Twitter in response to accommodation in Maynooth that was priced at €600 per month.
He informed the landlord that he would be removing their advertisement from a Maynooth students page, and told him that it would be posted again if the price was lowered so that it was made more affordable for students.
A landlord trying to charge €150 weekly in Maynooth. I remember a time when that was two weeks rent. Anyways low battery or not, tonight these landlords are getting HEAT. pic.twitter.com/UzTpPJKY3O
— Leon Diop (@DiopLeon) August 19, 2018
Speaking to JOE, Diop said: “Students are being extorted so much by landlords that they are now having to either commute ridiculous distances or can’t go to the college at all. On the other hand, some students are having to work 20-30 hours on top of their college work just to survive.”
“This isn’t right,” Diop added.
“I’m an admin on the Maynooth students accommodation page and when I saw this landlord was trying to advertise for €600 a month I was furious. I just had to let them know it wasn’t on. There is a happy medium where students can afford accommodation and landlords can still make their money and at the minute it’s completely skewed.”
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