Lottery to assign UCC student digs
RENT caps are being blamed for an accommodation shortage that will lead to campus housing at University College Cork being raffled to students looking for somewhere to live in September.
The lottery will be drawn next month as the housing crisis continues to hit students.
Local experts said they expected the problem to get worse before college resumes ahead of the new academic year. They believed Housing Minister Simon Coveney’s rent caps were having a negative affect on the supply coming to market, limiting availability for students and young professionals in rent pressure zones such as Dublin and Cork.
University College Cork students were told last week they would have to apply for campus housing for next year using an online “accommodation portal”.
Applications will be included in a free lottery, with rooms offered to the successful applicants by email next month.
Students will then get one week to officially accept the housing offer and pay a €250 booking deposit.
They must apply by March 7 and a student’s chances of receiving a room are the same regardless of when they apply.
University College Cork said the draw will be conduct- ed using computer-generated software and students who do not secure places will be put on a waiting list.
The lottery will continue throughout the summer in the event of cancellations.
Cormac Aherne, director of Choices Property Management, said the problem has been made worse by a new cap in rent pressure zones limiting annual rent increases to 4pc.
“In the past 18 to 24 months we have noticed people are not moving as much,” he said. “We rented a property to someone recently who was living in a hostel for two months waiting for somewhere to move in to.
“Even though the regulations are designed to protect tenants from increases, one of the immediate results is people are not going to move. Because people are not moving, there is nothing available.”
A spokeswoman for University College Cork said the lottery system will be implemented to ensure the university’s IT systems are not overloaded with applications at a single point in time, to ensure students are treated equally, and to help parents and students cope with “unnecessary stress”.
She added: “Cork is currently under pressure to provide accommodation for its student population. The situation has been managed very carefully.”