On-campus accommodation prices are set to rise again for the coming academic year across the majority of the Republic’s leading universities, as several colleges raise prices by the maximum amount permissible.
Under residential laws, there is a 2 per cent cap on price year on year. University of Galway (UoG) and Maynooth University increased on-campus rent by close to this limit for 2026/2027.
UoG, the cheapest option is a single bed in a twin room at €3,316, up 1.78 per cent compared to last year. Its dearest option is a double-plus en suite in Dunlin Village, up 1.98 per cent to €8,086 for the academic year.
Maynooth University raised its on-campus accommodation by 1.99 per cent, pushing its cheapest and dearest options up to €4,856 and €6,480 for the year respectively.
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An en suite bedroom in Village 3 of University College Dublin (UCD) campus has risen in cost to €11,990, making it the most expensive on-campus accommodation option.
The cheapest on-campus room in UCD is a shared bedroom in the village and will cost €5,771, up about €50 from last year’s price.
While Trinity College Dublin acknowledged minor increases in year-on-year prices, a spokeswoman said it was hard to directly compare prices year on year due to differing numbers of nights in subsequent academic years.
Some colleges, including Dublin City University (DCU) and UoG, do not include additional mandatory fees or service charges in their baseline rent.
A significant row broke out between DCU and Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless last year following an Irish Times report which found total monthly payments for DCU on-campus accommodation increased by almost 7 per cent last year via service fees that fall outside the scope of rent restrictions.
Lawless wrote to DCU president Prof Dáire Keogh last September saying he believes the fee increase was not “in the spirit of the law” in relation to Rent Pressure Zones.
Inflated service charges have since been the subject of the new Residential Tenancies (Student Rent) Bill launched by Labour Party Senator Laura Harmon earlier this week, which aims to put an end to colleges being able to circumvent rent controls through inflated services/utility charges, by making it mandatory to include such fees in the accommodation rent.
For the upcoming year, DCU has indicated that their service charges will range from €92.71 to €118.52 a month, noting that “the service charge is on a cost-recovery basis and costs incurred are dictated by market conditions, not DCU”.
In Galway, a fixed utilities rate ranging from €450 to €600 is paid at the start of the year but may be subject to change depending on each apartment’s monthly consumption.
A spokesperson from UoG said that “if total usage exceeds the prepaid amount, the student will need to pay the difference. Any surplus will be refunded to them.”
Other colleges have taken varying approaches to dealing with additional service charges, which Harmon said can include utilities, bins, security, or anything to do with the building students are housed in.
UCD, TCD, University of Limerick, University College Cork and Maynooth all include their mandatory service charges within their advertised rent.
However, Maynooth also increased its service and utility charge from a one-off payment of €650 last year to €700 for the upcoming year.
This marks an increase of just over 7 per cent, which, if bundled with the baseline rent, would make the overall monthly rent payment rise by more than 2 per cent.
“Utilities and service charges reflect the costs the university faces,” said a Maynooth University spokesperson.
“Unfortunately, those costs have increased for the University ... The yearly increase of €50 reflects that change in price.”
Ty Layberry-Ling, president of Maynooth Student Union, said that “every increase in the cost of attending university ... adds to the financial pressures experienced by students and their families.”
