DkIT Student Union President Holly Lambe Sally has described the accommodation crisis as the biggest barrier facing students locally and has urged the government to step in now and help alleviate the problems.
“Across the country there is a huge cry for help in the housing and accommodation sector. Dundalk is no different. We are definitely struggling to find places for students that need full semester accommodation. We’ve been in touch with landlords who have expressed to us they have rooms and while it is great that they have got in touch, unfortunately the number of rooms compared to the student numbers in DkIT don’t add up,” explained Holly.
“It’s a huge challenge students face, especially incoming first years. They accept their CAO offer or their place and start only a few days later. They’re left stuck trying to find somewhere to stay as properties fill up from before they even sat their leaving certificate or accepted their place in DkIT.
“Of course students are going to then struggle in their academics when they have to stay on a friends couch or in their car. it’s totally understandable and there’s only so much support and guidance we can provide for them before the inevitable happens of having to walk away from their course.
Holly also bemoaned the increasing rents and stated that full time students are having to work long hours in full-time jobs to help make ends meet.
“Like everything else in the world, the price of accommodation has seen an increase and some seem to think it’s not an issue to charge near €200 per week or more, when students can be struggling to pay their fees. Then they must also make rent and that €200 per week won’t include the cost of day to day living. It’s crazy to think a student could afford that lifestyle. It’s definitely increased across the board and its super unfortunate because it’s the way everything is now. Constant increase of rent, with no solution or understanding for students. This is a serious lack of urgency from the government to solve this crisis. Full time courses now require students to work full time jobs just to get across the line,” noted Holly.
“To put it simply the government are not doing enough to ease this crisis. The student accommodation crisis is the biggest barrier facing students. USI has been calling for many changes to be made to alleviate the crisis but our calls have fallen on deaf ears. In short- and long-term aspects the government has done nothing with the solutions USI has presented them with. We are very lucky to be a part of USI and to be involved in the process of writing these motions or hosting these campaigns.
“There is a collective understanding of what needs to be done for the students but the government have failed students in regards to accommodation at every step. Instead of being proactive and solving the issues brought to them, they wait until they are at there worst and then say they will do something. It’s disheartening but it won’t stop any sabbatical officer. We’ll keep pushing for change as it’s our job to advocate for students and we will continue to do so,”promised Holly.
While scams from bogus landlords have been an issue in other parts of the country, Holly says that that there has not been anything like that happening in Dundalk thus far.
“Luckily we’ve not experienced anything ourselves within Dundalk, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. We advise students to follow the scam watch tips, inspect the property in person, use secure payment methods, ask for a contract, trust your instincts and seek advice. We deal with a lot of the properties that get advertised to students so whether its people phoning into the office or coming in to chat, we luckily can guide students as we know these properties exist. For those that don’t get their accommodation through us it could be a different story, but that’s when students utilize the union and seek advice/help from us.
The student accommodation crisis is the biggest barrier facing students. USI has been calling for many changes to be made to alleviate the crisis but our calls have fallen on deaf ears. In short- and long-term aspects the government has done nothing with the solutions USI has presented them with. We are very lucky to be a part of USI and to be involved in the process of writing these motions or hosting these campaigns, there is a collective understanding of what needs to be done for the students but the government have failed students in regards to accommodation at every step. Instead of being proactive and solving the issues brought to them they wait until they are at there worst and then say they will do something. It’s disheartening but it won’t stop any sabbatical officer, we’ll keep pushing for change, our job is to advocate for students and we will continue to do so,” promised Holly.
