21,000 rent-a-room flyers reap prospective landlord interest

As the pressure mounts on students and their families to find accommodation for the new term, one campaign to make more rooms available to students is beginning to bear fruit.

In recent days, the Union of Students in Ireland distributed 21,000 flyers advertising the ‘rent-a-room relief’ scheme around university areas. This scheme allows homeowners to benefit from a tax-free €12,000 relief if they take in a lodger.

USI president Kevin Donoghue said within a day, 30 new householders had expressed an interest in the scheme. He said it was often from families whose children had left home and who now had a room free.