Off-campus student accommodation in Cork 'wholly unaffordable' at €14,000

UCC’s student union president to tell Oireachtas Committee on Higher Education that 'access to affordable accommodation is currently the single biggest barrier to education in the third-level sector'

Students not offered a place through UCC’s accommodation lottery, can find themselves having to pay double the UCC rent somewhere else, Dáil to hear. Picture: Dan Linehan

The cost of off-campus student accommodation at University College Cork (UCC) will rise as high as €14,000 for the college year, up to double that charged within the university’s own residences.

An Oireachtas committee will hear on Wednesday how this stands as a “wholly unaffordable” situation for the average student, according to Alex Angland, the president of UCC’s student union.