USI says landlords exploiting tax breaks

GREEDY landlords are forcing up rents in student accommodation by breaking rules on tax breaks received when they bought or built the apartments, students have claimed.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) yesterday called on the Revenue Commissioners to investigate alleged breaches of the conditions of a Section 50 tax relief scheme, which stipulate that apartments must be occupied by students during college terms.

University College Cork student union welfare officer Sarah Simkin, who raised the issue at the USI annual congress in Ennis yesterday, said it is a growing problem in the large number of student accommodation developments built under the tax relief scheme in recent years.