Everyone knows full-time workers, let alone students, are being priced out of Dublin city due to the soaring rental prices, so why is a new development looking to charge students €1000+ a month? The new Mill Street student accommodation prices have been revealed.
The modern rooms, developed by Global Student Accommodation (GSA) and their partner Harrison Street Real Estate Capital will be a 15 minute walk to Trinity College Dublin or a five minute walk to DIT Kevin Street and close to major bus routes or Dart stations.
According to the TheJournal.ie, a single ensuite room with a shared kitchen will cost a minimum of €249 a week, while a deluxe studio room will cost up to up to €349 a week (bills inclusive). When you consider the minimum wage in Ireland is €9.25 an hour, that's barely enough to cover rent and food.
A report from the Higher Education Authority published in September 2015 found that there was a serious lack of accommodation for the 170,000+ students in Ireland.
Students from around the country, plus international students, put pressure on the accommodation sitch, but does that mean when more housing is built, it should be more expensive? Could this mean people avoid coming to Dublin for college?
There are over 4,100 units currently under construction in Ireland, with planning permission granted for an additional 1,300 units.
According to Journal.ie, developments currently under construction and due for completion in the next two years include a 463-bed facility on Dorset Street, a 520-bed facility on Gardiner Street due to be opened in September and a 407-bed facility at Summerhill.
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“Students desperately need accommodation. No one is going to speak badly about more accommodation being built,” says Annie Hoey, president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).
She explained that the New Mill prices were not aimed at Irish students on a basic wage.
“I think what you will find is this type of accommodation is more targeted to international students,” says Hoey.
But Aaron Bailey, head of construction for Europe with GSA, told TheJournal.ie the over-priced accommodation "will attract a broad mix of students...we have large percentage of domestic students and also a wide range of international students with over 13 nationalities represented.
"We see it as a product that will suit a broad range of students and we pride ourselves on the value we provide in terms of the quality of the accommodation and the service offering we provide"
Student Éilis Ryan made the good point: “Students from working class and middle-class families won’t be able to afford to live in these developments".
Exactly. We really hope accommodation can be affordable and easily accessible for all Irish students but that might just be a pipe dream.
What do you think?
