Harris urges colleges to suggest plans to fix student housing crisis

UNIVERSITIES and colleges must bring forward proposals to help solve the student accommodation crisis, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has said.

Students have been facing issues sourcing accommodation since the start of the academic year, resulting in a protest outside the Dáil last month. It also emerged that some purpose-built student accommodation is being used for short-term stays and tourists. This led to a row this week in which Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan was forced to apologise after he suggested that students should get into the housing market themselves.

Mr Keegan made the remark in a letter to UCD Students’ Union president Ruairí Power, after the latter complained about the council allowing a student accommodation provider to convert some units into short-term lets.

Minister Harris welcomed the DCC chief’s apology yesterday but called on him to meet with the students’ union about the issue.

He told the Irish Daily Mail that now funding has been allocated to universities and institutes of technology through Housing for All, third-level institutions need to come forward with proposals for affordable accommodation. ‘We need a new model. We need to change the way in which we’re delivering student accommodation,’ Mr Harris said. ‘My message to the colleges is to prepare to bring forward proposals.’

The minister said the Government is putting measures in place through Housing For All to ensure colleges can borrow cheaply to build accommodation.

Last month, DCU professor Daire Keogh hit out at the plan, saying it was ‘uneconomic’ and would result in rents that were ‘beyond the ability to pay’ for most students and their families.

Minister Harris also said yesterday that purpose-built student accommodation should not be let out to tourists on a short-term basis. He made his comments as he unveiled his Budget package.

Third-level students in receipt of a Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) maintenance grant can now avail of an extra €200 annually. The income threshold has also increased by €1,000, while the distance for the higher nonadjacent student grant will be reduced from 45km to 30km.