Students face soaring rents as they prepare for the next academic year, property experts predict in a new report.
Controversy blew up over student accommodation costs recently as it emerged that the highest on-campus rent for this academic year was €11,888.
Student housing rents are poised to rise 4.5 per cent nationally over the next 12 months as demand continues to outstrip supply, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI), the professional body for property valuers.
The society’s midyear review states that “student housing stands out” among other properties for having the highest predicted growth in rents.
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Young people going to college face higher increases in their rents than businesses including manufacturers, shopkeepers and services, the report, due to be published on Thursday, shows.
[ The Irish Times view on student accommodation: the annual story plays outOpens in new window ]
The news comes as students seek accommodation for the coming academic year against the background of the Republic’s chronic housing shortage.
Reacting to the figures, Donna McGettigan, Sinn Féin’s spokeswoman on higher and further education, said any rent rises for students was disappointing.
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“I really think the Government is not listening to people when they are saying that we’re still in a cost of living crisis,” she added.
Ms McGettigan said she knew one young woman whose landlord sought €800 a-month for a shared bedroom in a house with one bathroom between eight people.
“Another woman I know who was looking at €650 a-month dropped out of college. She just couldn’t afford it,” said the TD.
Ms McGettigan warned that the problem was subjecting students and their families to significant “worry and stress”.
She noted that Minister for Housing James Browne had ruled out exemptions for students under the legislation implementing the new rent protection zones saying it would be impossible to police.
This means that students renting in areas covered by the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act, 2025, faced yearly increases.
The fact that students often leave accommodation at the end of the academic year also disadvantages them, Ms McGettigan pointed out.
The Department of Housing said that its officials were in talks with the Attorney General and the Department for Further and Higher Education on changes to rent laws “with tailored arrangements to apply to student specific accommodation”.
Its statement added that increasing the amount of affordable, available accommodation for students was a Government priority.
The Irish Times recently reported that an en-suite student apartment on University College Dublin’s Belfield campus costs €11,888 for the academic year, €124 more than in 2024/’25. The cheapest option on offer at the college was €5,722.
SCSI’s Commercial Property Market Monitor Mid-Year Review and Outlook, forecasts that most businesses face rent hikes over the next 12 months.
Chartered surveyors calculate that over that period, prime industrial rents will rise 2.5 per cent while prime office charges will increase 2.6 per cent and to retail space 1.8 per cent.
Neil McDonnell, chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (ISME) association called on banks and pension funds, which benefit most from commercial rents, to rein in their expectations.
“A lot of businesses are trading on very tight margins,” he said.
“A change in rents does not make any sense at the moment.”
