‘Dublin’s rental market is totally crazy and bad for mental health’
A Spanish student’s experience of Dublin’s rental market has left her in shock at the poor living conditions, writes Niamh Horan
SARA Ortiz is from Madrid. A psychology student who has come to Ireland to study in Maynooth College for a year as part of her university degree, the 27-year-old has been left in shock at Dublin’s rental market — but even more so by the lack of action being taken to combat renters’ woes.
“I came to Ireland to look for a place ahead of starting my course and I put two weeks aside to look around Dublin’s rental market,” says Sara.
“To say it has been very, very difficult would be a massive understatement.
“There are lots of places but they are very expensive, especially for what landlords are offering you, which is to live in very poor conditions.”
Sara says her eyes were opened when she visited an apartment in Dublin’s South city centre, after seeing an advertisement on Daft.ie.
“I went to visit one apartment in Dublin 2 and I was brought in to see the bedroom and there was four beds in it, two bunk beds on each side.
“For one of the beds I was asked to pay €700 per month and I had to share the small room with three others. “It was totally crazy. “When I got to the sitting room, the landlord, an Irish guy, pointed to the corner to show me where he would be living.
“It was a mattress on a floor in the corner of the living room. He had two bookcases around it to make a little wall so he could have a little space to sleep and for privacy. But the living room was joined up to the kitchen so he was going to be in this little communal area that we would all be living and eating in. “I couldn’t believe it.” She continues: “In another place near Drumcondra, I visited a house where 10 people were living. They wanted €600 per bed. The living room was a little place without light in the basement.”
When her search in Dublin yielded no results, she expanded her search to Maynooth.
“It was no better there. Near the college they know they can charge people a lot of money for living conditions that aren’t great because people are so desperate to find somewhere at this time of year.
“One of the places I visited there had 10 people sharing two bathrooms.
“When I spoke to the landlord he wanted me to pay €450 a month and he wanted the deposit up front and six months rent up front.
“So if I moved in to the place and found I couldn’t stick it after a week I would
‘The landlord pointed to the corner to show me where he would live’
have been stuck there for six months.”
Now back in Spain, Sara says the rental market must be impacting on the mental health of city dwellers who find themselves stuck living in such conditions.
“I don’t know how anyone can live in places like that long term,” she said. Physically it is possible, yes, but mentally — how can you have any wellbeing with no space, no privacy and paying such high rents to be stuck in that situation?
“The stress for some people out there must be appalling. I couldn’t imagine my life like that. I think it would be very difficult on your emotional and mental health.”
Sara says what she is most taken aback by is not the rental market itself but the Irish attitude towards it.
“No one seems to be doing anything about it. I haven’t seen or heard anything that shows it is going to be dealt with and people who live here just shrug and tell me that’s what it’s like, they seem to accept the situation for what it is.
“I have been to other cities around Europe and you can get far better accommodation for much cheaper.
“Dublin is meant to be a place for young people to come and live and work but I can see the rental market turning a lot of people off and them deciding to stay away — because it is just isn’t worth it.”