Complaint lodged with RTB over mouldy, overcrowded international student accommodation

English language student Sebastian Carvallo Farina and four others had to sleep on the street last weekend after they could not find accommodation. Picture: Dan Linehan

A complaint has been lodged with the Residential Tenancies Board about the conditions in which an international student has been living in Dublin, after coming here to learn English.

The complaint was lodged in recent days by the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) after the student contacted the council about the accommodation.

Executive director of ICOS Laura Harmon told the Irish Examiner: “We made one report last week in relation to a property in Dublin about a property a student was living in. There was really bad mould on the walls, overcrowding — students being squished into the one room and being charged high rent for it.” 

She said students regularly contact ICOS with concerns about sub-standard accommodation.

She added: “A lot of people are being exploited in the market at the minute.” 

Ms Harmon said this was a reflection of the current housing crisis in Ireland, adding legislation should be brought forward to ban overcrowding in rental properties.

She was speaking after the Irish Examiner highlighted on Monday that growing numbers of international students coming to Ireland to learn English are ending up sleeping on the streets and couch-surfing because they are finding it difficult to get accommodation. 

One student told this newspaper that she had purchased an old car for €800 to sleep in because she could not find accommodation.

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Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan said the current housing crisis was placing huge strain on people, including international students.

He said: “The Government could take a number of immediate actions to address this. First, they should ban short-term tourist letting operating in areas of high housing demand that do not have planning permission. Online platforms cannot to be allowed to advertise these short-term lets if they are not planning compliant. This would substantially increase the supply of homes available to rent.” 

Executive director of the Irish Council for International Students Laura Harmon: 'A lot of people are being exploited in the market at the minute.' Picture: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision

He also suggested taxing vacant properties and ending tax breaks for investment funds.

ICOS published a survey in February which found half of international students were sharing a room with three or more people. One in 10 are forced to share a room with six or more people. Only one in 10 had their own room. 

The report also highlighted a lack of availability, high rent costs and poor conditions as issues facing international students. It added that “further investment in affordable purpose-built student accommodation is needed”.

The latest rent report from Daft for the first quarter of 2022 found there were fewer than 1,400 properties to rent nationally at the beginning of February. In Dublin, there were just 712 properties available, the lowest level since Daft’s records began in 2006. The number of properties was also at an all-time low in Munster.

The average rent on Daft was €1,524 nationally at the end of 2021, a rise of more than 10% over the year.