Student protests over threatened rent rises

Amidst a series of rent hikes at universities across the country, students at University College Dublin (UCD) staged a sit-in in protest of what they described as the “commercialisation” of third-level education.

Rent is expected to increase by up to 4% at university-owned student accommodation at UCD, University College Cork (UCC), NUI Galway, and Trinity College Dublin.

UCD is to implement a 12% increase in 4% increments over the next three years. The university said this increase is necessary to cover costs of existing on-campus accommodation, and to create more accommodation.

The upcoming increases have been met with anger by UCD students who say their on-campus accommodation is already the most expensive in the country.

At the end of the three years, rents for on-campus accommodation will begin at just under €7,000 at the Blackrock Halls residences, to more than €9,600 at Glenomena. “These increases are outrageous during the middle of a housing crisis,” said Joanna Siewierska, president of the UCD Students’ Union. “They are a symptom of the commercialisation of the sector.”

“We staged the sit-in so that our governing authority could see our frustrations.”

The students’ union is calling for a range of measures to be implemented at the university, Ms Siewierska added. These include reversing the incoming increase, and introducing a number of measures to help students affected by the housing crisis, including a rent freeze.

“We need to be able to understand the housing crisis and its effect on our students fully, we can’t put a number of how many are sleeping rough or in their cars,” she said, adding that research needs to be carried out by the university.

A UCD spokesman said the university believes the increase is necessary due to inflation and the cost of bringing student accommodation under the Rental Tenancies Act.

“While we sympathise with calls by the UCD Students’ Union for a rent freeze, such an action would require us to freeze any further development of student accommodation,” he said. “It is our view that proceeding with these developments will contribute to longer term rent stability and potential rent reductions, and that it is in the best interests of our community overall to proceed.”

A range of scholarships and hardship funds have been introduced for students, he added.

This week, UCC also announced it is to increase its rent by 3%. The UCC Students’ Union is considering taking strike action should a rent freeze not be implemented.