Galway ahead on student housing
Galway is leading the way nationally in the provision of dedicated accommodation for students – with one-third of all student apartments under construction in the country located in the city.
And Galway already has the highest proportion of purpose-built spaces for third-level students in Ireland, a new report has revealed.
The report, by major estate agents Sherry Fitzgerald, reveals that the city had a total of 5,440 beds in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) developments at the start of this year.
Of the approximately 2,600 further student bed spaces in the pipeline nationally – less than a thousand of which are due to be delivered in 2026 – one-third are located in Galway.
The report reveals that Galway's third-level students are already well served in terms of dedicated accommodation compared with other areas.
“A comparison of the total stock of student accommodation with the estimated number of students requiring accommodation across Dublin and the three regional centres of Cork, Galway and Limerick at the end of 2025 reveals significant shortages across most locations,” it says.
“If we assume that only students who originate from outside the region in which they are enrolled require accommodation, this suggests that the West had the highest student-to-bed space ratio of all the three regional centres at 2.5,” the report adds.
The report predicts that at least 48,800 new student beds will be required between now and 2030 to meet demand in Ireland.
“Not all students who seek accommodation during their third level education years opt for PBSA and instead may choose to enter the private rental market or select an alternative living arrangement such as digs,” it says.
“However, a greater supply of affordable student accommodation may help alleviate some of the pressures on the private rental market and also provide students with a wider range of options,” the report stresses.
“Development activity in the PBSA market has been hampered by various factors including elevated construction costs and rising borrowing costs, which have impeded the viability of developments.
“As a result, the growth in full-time student numbers has not been matched by similar growth in student beds, placing added pressure on the private rental market,” it adds.