The real cost of student rental: the closer to college, the dearer it gets
However, the article on student living costs (‘Average cost of a student year is €6,000’) is, like the Ulster Bank survey the article was based on, seriously ill-informed.
The piece stated that “the average weekly cost of rent for those who do not live at home is €38”. This not only contradicts the article on accommodation six pages later, where weekly rent for digs and houses in the UCC area are more correctly estimated at €70-€100 plus per week, but also contradicts the experience of thousands of other students in the past years. Most parents and students who have sought accommodation in the past fortnight will have found that most of the cheaper properties are in the €80-€90 bracket, though many landlords have maintained or decreased rent to the student union-recommended maximum of €75 per week.
