Soaring rents put accommodation beyond the reach of many students

SOARING rents and a critical lack of suitable accommodation has once again combined to create a deepening crisis for third level students in Cork.

The latest rental report for the second quarter of the year, issued by property website Daft.ie, has painted a bleak picture for students hoping to study and live in Cork City.

The report revealed that rents in the city has risen by a whopping 18.2% over the past year to an average of €1,051 per month – compared to €889 for the same period last year. While the average rent in Dublin city centre stands at €1,505, the jump in Cork rentals represents the highest increase of any city in the state.

The report said that Cork rents had risen by almost 50% since their lowest point and were now 4% higher than their previous peak in 2008.

The average rent for a single bed room in the city now stands at €344 (up 11%) and €433 for a double bed room (up 8.5%).

The average rent in Cork County for the period stood at €748, an increase of 11.2% on the figure of €673 a year ago and up by 28.4% from their lowest point in 2013.

Nationally, the report showed that rent rates have hit Celtic Tiger levels, with the average monthly rent now standing at €1,037.

There was more bad news contained within the report in relation to a dramatic fall in the number of properties available to rent – with less than 800 in Munster, down by a fifth on the same period in 2015.

This is a trend repeated across the entire country, with just, 3,600 available as of August 1. That is down by 1,000 when compared to the same day in 2015 and down by a staggering 3,200 on the figure for 2014.

By way of comparison, there were more than 23,000 properties available to rent across the country at the beginning of August 2009.

With mere weeks to go until the start of the new college year, students are now facing scramble to secure accommodation – that is assuming they can even afford the high rents sought.

The Daft.ie report found that nationally rents were at their highest level since the boom times of 2007, placing a huge financial burden on parents supporting children entering third level education.

In the foreword to the report, Conor Viscardi, the president of UCD students’ union, and Kieran McNulty, the president of TCD’s students’ union, wrote that the Leaving Cert class of 2016 were “stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

“They’re low-income newcomers to the most competitive areas of the housing market because the colleges they’re attending are mostly city-based. In the private sector right now, it is unlikely they will get a viewing let alone a lease,” they wrote.

They called on homeowners to consider renting out empty rooms in their houses for digs, pointing out the rental income on student digs is exempt from tax as long as it does not exceed €12,000 in a tax year.