Total monthly payments at on-campus student accommodation in Dublin have been increased by almost 7 per cent this year via fees that fall outside the scope of rent restrictions.
Mandatory monthly service charges for the college park apartments at Dublin City University’s (DCU’s) Glasnevin campus increased from €87 in 2024 to €130 in 2025, tenant records show.
The rent rose from €755 to €768 per month. If the rent and service charge increases are bundled together, the overall monthly payment has risen by €55.51, or almost 7 per cent.
The complex is based within a rent pressure zone (RPZ), where rent increases are capped at 2 per cent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
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While the total mandatory monthly payments at the DCU accommodation went up by more than 2 per cent, this does not appear to break RPZ rules because the main increase is driven by the service charge, and not the actual rent.
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), which governs rental law breaches, said an increase in service charges is permissible under rental laws as long as the charge has always been paid separately to the rent and has always been noted as such in the lease agreement.
“If service charges are paid separately to the rent, they should only increase based on actual increases to the cost of the service. As a matter of good practice, the landlord should provide receipts/bills to the tenant to show the required increase,” an RTB spokeswoman said.
“New additional charges cannot be used to circumvent provisions under the Residential Tenancies Act that prevent rent from being increased above permitted limits in rent pressure zone areas,” she said.
Housing charity Threshold has said the Residential Tenancies Act needs to be amended to address this scenario.
“We haven’t been given a clear answer on what service charges are permissible within the student-specific accommodation scenario,” said Threshold chief executive John-Mark McCafferty.
“That said, where students feel they have encountered illegal service charges, they are entitled to open a dispute proceeding before the RTB,” he said.
“We understand from conversations with the RTB that they are aware of this issue, and cases brought which challenge such charges may result in a favourable outcome for students. Such disputes are addressed on a case-by-case basis,” Mr McCafferty said.
A DCU spokesman said the college was “acutely aware of the additional financial pressure any extra charges will put on students and their families” and “reluctantly” had taken the decision to increase the service charge “to offset escalating costs”.
Adele O’Neill’s daughter has stayed on the DCU campus for the last three years and has just moved into a five-bed apartment on campus for her fourth and final year.
Her older daughter has moved home to Arklow in Co Wicklow to commute for her master’s degree after spending three years on the college’s campus.
She said she feels “robbed” by the increase in service charges, saying no ordinary household of five people would pay more than €100 a head for utilities per month.
She said she has raised the issue with Minister for Housing James Browne, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless and senior leadership in DCU.
“We’re really faced with no option here but for her to move in, otherwise what do we do? Do I put her on the road for six hours a day so that she can continue her psychology degree?
“You’re really held over a barrel, and you’re left with really restrictive options,” Ms O’Neill said.
