Rent control changes will make student accommodation crisis 'a lot worse', Dáil committee told

Paul Murphy accused higher education minister James Lawless of signing off on deal that would give students no rental protection

Bróga House student accommodation in Cork: 'Students are arguably the group that is hit hardest, so students who are in rental accommodation will effectively not have any rental protection whatsoever,' TD Paul Murphy said. File picture: Dan Linehan

Further and higher education minister James Lawless has been accused of signing off on a decision that will deepen the accommodation crisis for students.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy levelled the criticism towards Mr Lawless as he attended the Oireachtas committee on further and higher education and research on Wednesday.

Mr Murphy noted in the minister’s opening statement to the committee, he referred to the lack of affordable accommodation as a “big barrier” for students attending tertiary education.

“Yet, you are part of the Government that yesterday signed off on a plan that is going to make that crisis for students a lot worse," Mr Murphy said. 

"Students are arguably the group that is hit hardest, so students who are in rental accommodation will effectively not have any rental protection whatsoever.

They won’t be covered by 2%, it won’t be covered by CPI, because the vast majority of students in private rented accommodation change tenancies very regularly every year, and therefore every time they go back and rent again, their rent will be reset to market rate.

Mr Murphy added: “When asked about it, you say that you'll be meeting with [housing] minister [James] Browne to trash out how this will work.

“I don't understand. You're there at the Cabinet. Student accommodation is one of the biggest issues in higher education. How have you not already thought this through?

"Are you saying that the rules won't apply as they've been announced yesterday? Are you saying that there will be some extra protection for students in private rented accommodation? Why have you signed off on a decision that's going to deepen the accommodation crisis for students?” 

Mr Lawless rejected the criticism in an at times tense exchange with Mr Murphy.

The plans will come into effect next March, he said. 

“There's a lot of water in the bridge between now and next March."

He plans to sit down with Mr Browne and “delve into the detail about how it affected the student accommodation sector”, he said.

“It's not appropriate, in my view, to have a robust engagement on a housing initiative that was launched yesterday by a different minister and a different department.

“We will work out the detail for every sector, and from my perspective, for the student accommodation sector, between now and March, and hopefully a lot sooner.” 

When asked by Mr Murphy if he could promise students they would not face market increases every time they leave a tenancy, Mr Lawless said it would be “extremely unhelpful and unwise” for him to speculate about “the future outworkings of a plan” that is yet to be thrashed into detail from his particular side.

Committee chair Erin McGreehan said she did not think it was fair to interrogate the minister on plans that were not finalised yet.

“Respectfully, I think your job as chair is not to protect the minister from questioning,” Mr Murphy said.