Your prayers have just been answered.
Late August and early September can be a very stressful time of year for those who are entering the big bad world of college.
Just a couple of weeks after getting that valuable piece of paper and partying until the early hours of the Summer morning, you are now left with the enormous task of finding a place to stay for college.
Normally, those rooms are hard to come by but the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is urging students not to panic when looking for accommodation.
According to USI, there are over 900 rooms available to rent on the accommodation website, homes.usi.ie, where homeowners advertise rooms for students to rent.
The second round of CAO offers are out on August 31 and the USI are on hand to help alleviate the pressure of looking for a bed ahead of the college year.
USI President Michael Kerrigan said, “We’re now seeing digs benefitting both the homeowner and the student. Students have somewhere warm and safe near where they’re studying.
"The homeowner gets to claim up to €14,000-a-year tax free. Worryingly, 38 students in our study on housing stated that they have no accommodation and had to sleep on friends’ couches, floors or in cars. In two cases, students declared sleeping rough and availing of homeless aid. We don’t want to see this happen to more students.
“To have 900 rooms ready to rent at one time on homes.usi.ie is a clear sign that homeowners are responding to the student accommodation crisis.
“There is still a shortage of accommodation, therefore anyone who has already accepted their place at college should start making arrangements for accommodation right now and to seriously consider visiting homes.usi.ie.”
For more information about accommodation and the service that the USI provide, you can visit their
website.
