Students set up home outside Government offices in rent protest

STUDENTS are to build and sleep in a makeshift house in front of Government offices from today to highlight the crisis facing students seeking affordable accommodation.

Rents in Dublin have jumped by 79% in the last three years, according to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), quoting from figures produced by the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute. But grant increases have barely kept in line with inflation.

The USI said the week long demonstration outside the Custom House offices of the Department of the Environment and Local Government is to highlight the fact that spiralling rents are now common in every town and city with a third level institution.

University College Cork students' union expressed outrage, after a survey it conducted showed accommodation costs jumped by between 25% and 30% this year.

"How can the Government seriously expect a full maintenance non-adjacent grant holder receiving 2,500 to pay for accommodation rent alone which may be up to 3,500," asked UCC students' union president Tommy Reid.

Only 6% of Irish students were housed in on-campus accommodation in 2000, compared with 28% in Britain and 17% in Europe.

Data from the Higher Education Authority shows that 1,017 students were forced to live in hostels during the 2001/2002 academic year.

Last week, University College Dublin students' union warned about rogue landlords who aim to rip off students. Union president Aonghus Hourihane said some worried parents were adding to the problem by offering more than the asking price to ensure their child had a bed in the autumn.

He cited a house in the south Dublin district of Clonskeagh, near UCD, where rent sought last week was 1,900 a month. But after a number of parents "outbid" each other, it ended up costing 2,500 a month.

"To date Cork has been one of the more reasonably priced cities for a student to live in," said union deputy president Cait Mehigan. "However, that is no longer the case, according to survey results."

Ms Mehigan said students were facing huge financial difficulties following across-the-board increases, including the 69% fees increase introduced by the Government.