Students fork out thousands to hold onto accommodation
Only weeks since the academic year ended, the hunt has already begun for student beds in the city – with some students and their families forking out thousands of euros to avoid the scramble for digs in August.
Since the accommodation crisis began four years ago, significant numbers of students have been returning every September without accommodation – finding themselves having to book into hostels or bunking on friends’ couches.
In an effort to avoid this scenario, students are now paying up to four months’ rent to maintain the lease on a property through the summer – despite not needing it until September.
Outgoing Welfare Officer at NUI Galway’s Students’ Union, Daniel Khan, said that the union is aware of the practice and while they wouldn’t encourage it, they understand why students are feeling the pressure to do this.
“We wouldn’t get a lot of students telling us that they are doing this but we know it is happening – we’re not going to tell students not to take these houses because it is their decision to make, but this is far from an ideal situation.
“A lot of students are coming back without accommodation sorted for the first semester and that means they’re not getting off to a good start – when you’re couch surfing or struggling to find accommodation, your college work is going to suffer,” said Mr Khan.
He said that efforts were being made by both the Students’ Union and the university to tackle the problem.
Between NUI Galway and GMIT, there are over 22,000 students in the city and despite ever increasing numbers, the construction of accommodation has stagnated over the past decade.
The rental housing stock available to students has decreased at a rapid rate as increasing employment during the economic recovery means more working professionals are entering the market. For the rest of this story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week's paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.