After the leaving results comes the flat hunting

Wtih the Leaving Certificate results out in the morning, USI president, Kevin Donoghue, has urged families to get ahead of the curve on student accommodation by seeking and securing places for the semester ahead.

Speaking during a leaflet drop to promote USI’s free rooms listing website ‘homes.usi.ie’, Donoghue explained:

“The earlier you secure your bed for the year, the more chance you have of getting good accommodation close to your college.  It stands to reason that good places closer to your chosen college will fill up first - after that you may need to make compromises on quality, price and the commute to college.”

USI’s warning comes just ahead of Leaving Certificate results tomorrow and next Monday’s CAO offers, and amidst a growing crisis for accommodation in the nation’s major cities and college towns.

“There’s simply not enough student accommodation in our big towns,” said Donoghue.

“Student numbers are rising, with more and more students having to turn to the already pressurised private rental market.  Government support for people to rent a room to students is welcome, and we’re promoting the fact of the up-to €12,000 tax free allowance for people prepared to rent their rooms to relieve the crisis.”

USI is also warning that student supports need to be examined in light of accommodation issues.

“The student assistance fund and the adjacency rates for grants are not sufficient to deal with the issues we will be facing in a few months time. Increased student supports are absolutely needed to alleviate the accommodation issue."

Colin Byrne, a student looking for accommodation had this to say: "Due to an increased number of multinational companies in the area accommodation prices are increasing to a point which students are unable to afford. This causes students to have to take residence miles from Maynooth, interfering with study and college experience.”