Galway West TD Mairéad Farrell has said that the requirement for students to stay 51 weeks in certain student accommodation owned by investment funds “spells more bad news” for hard-pressed student renters.
Deputy Farrell explained that for students living in purpose-built campus accommodation, the duration of their stay is naturally tied to the academic year, which is generally 39 weeks, and when this is finished, they return home.
But for the purpose-built accommodation that is being delivered by some vulture fund providers, students must stay the equivalent of 12 months.
“This means that students, or their parents, will have to pay for an additional three months despite often not needing the accommodation for this period,” said the Sinn Féin TD.
“Some of these providers have rents starting off at more than €1,000 a month. By requiring students to stay an addition 12 weeks can cost around €3,000.”
She said there are significant questions about the legalities of these investment funds doing this, and whether it is compliant with the planning permission they received.
The local TD said that Minister Simon Harris is aware of this problem, but that it “remains to be seen if he will do something about it.”
