Students and workers from France forced to return home due to lack of accommodation

Clémentine Staub, a 24-year-old privacy specialist from Alsace in France, arrived in Dublin at the beginning of August and is still searching desperately for accommodation.

It is a common story among young French people arriving in Ireland in search of work and studying in university, which has caused the French embassy to warn those relocating from France that the State is experiencing a “severe housing crisis” and that new arrivals face “significant difficulties in finding accommodation”.

Staub is in temporary accommodation until mid-October, and if she does not find somewhere to live by then, she will have to return to France.

“There are a lot of scams on Facebook, viewings to apartments that are clearly dirty and unsanitary and exorbitant prices like €1,300 a month for a room in shared accommodation with a small wardrobe and a filthy livingroom.

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“Even for viewings that aren’t fake, there are 15 people in front of you and 15 people behind you. I am on Daft and Facebook all day, I have sent more than 500 emails with an average of 40 answers, all negative.

“I didn’t think the housing crisis would be so intense, I thought that despite everything I’d find somewhere after a month, but no. I will persevere in my search until I am ‘on the street’.”

Students studying in Irish universities without finding accommodation is a significant issue, says Laurence Helaili-Chapuis, elected counsellor for French citizens abroad, representing northern Europe. She has lived in Dublin for 12 years and gets dozens of messages daily from worried French people about Ireland’s housing crisis. Sometimes she has had to lend a helping hand.

“In a lot of situations I have French people arriving at my place, sleeping here one night or two nights. It’s not my role, but when you have students on the street, it’s hard to say no when it’s a student that’s 18 years old. I have a son that’s 18 years old, I can’t imagine that for him,” she says.

“After the Covid crisis, it’s worse than ever. I think it’s a consequence of Brexit as the only country in Europe to speak English. You have a lot of French people arriving in Ireland for speaking English.”

She welcomed the advice from the embassy as a lot of French people do not know about the accommodation situation in Dublin in particular.

“It’s very important to prepare to come to Ireland. You need to have a lot of money, you need to have a solution for a few weeks or months. It’s important to communicate that.

“A lot of universities don’t tell the reality to students. They attract them by saying it’s a very nice place to go for speaking English. Then, they arrive here, we have students that are homeless, sleeping in the university, sleeping in friends’ houses.”

Pauline Steelandt, a student of the history of art and architecture in Trinity College, came to Ireland to live in an English-speaking country and because her sister was studying there. When her sister arrived four years ago, accommodation was “fairly easy” to find, but now it is overpriced.

“Student residences are more than €1,000 a month to share common rooms with seven other people.

“I found temporary accommodation advertised on Facebook for three months, the accommodation shared with two Brazilians who share a single room of 6sq m, two Italians who also share a room, with a wet bathroom, poorly insulated, which requires the window to be left open day and night to avoid more mould.

“Finding accommodation in Dublin, whether to rent or buy, is exorbitant, it’s war, and I don’t think it’s ready to calm down.”

It is not just young French people affected by the crisis, Helaili-Chapuis says.

“I think the worst story is of a family of five, the mother has breast cancer, and she needs to find another accommodation. She’s had to move three times, it’s very complicated to find new schools for children. She found a new house in Kildare, she needs to find another school for the children.”

She says she has got complaints from French people living with housemates who are drug addicts, who have severe mental health issues or who suffer from domestic violence, who are unable to leave their accommodation because of the lack of other viable options.

The embassy warned the housing situation in Dublin is much more expensive than Paris and Lana from Bordeaux, who moved here from London, says the price of accommodation and transport is also much worse value than London.

“I went through an agency after searching for a while and found accommodation after about four weeks. The agency costs are exorbitant and cost me more than two months’ rent.

“It’s not the image I had of Dublin, or Ireland in general.

“I pay €800 for rent in Swords and with commuting to Grand Canal Dock, it’s €1,000 a month minimum. I had always thought London was the most expensive in the world. The people here are very nice, I love the parks and monuments, but I can’t rate it as much as I’d like.”

Timothée Laurent, an engineer from Belfort near Switzerland, came to Dublin and said he was forced to camp in Dublin before finding an apartment, as Airbnb prices were more than €1,000 per week, whereas camping near Clondalkin was €25 per night for a small tent. His apartment was “very difficult” to find.

“I sent hundreds of emails, for only a dozen viewings. I finally found an apartment near Finglas. I knew it was going to be difficult but I chose to come anyway, so I don’t regret it. But I still would have preferred more choices.”

Vincent Laspalles-Blanc, an engineer from Paris, has almost given hope of finding accommodation in Dublin.

“For my part and I think this is the case for everyone, I have applied to hundreds of apartment offers for two months and I have very, very little feedback, and the rare times when I am given a viewing, there are dozens of us and then I have no more news.”

“I start work in two weeks, I have moved back to France, but if the search continues to fail I will have to stay in a hotel.

“It’s simply hell.”