Students rents in Dublin: ‘It’s a colossal amount of money’

"You tell landlords you're a student, and they tell you 'goodbye'," laughs Éanna Doyle, a second-year science student at Trinity College Dublin.

While she’s able to joke today, trying to find affordable housing in Dublin is a serious matter for Éanna and many of her student contemporaries.

With rent prices continuing to rise and another cohort of undergraduates set to arrive in the city after receiving their Leaving Cert results, the race for reasonably priced housing is set to escalate even further.

“I’ve been searching weeks and weeks for accommodation,” said Éanna.

“Right now I’ve hit rock-bottom. I’m going to have to commute from Kilkenny – which is an hour and a half on a bus. I’ll be living with my mum.”

“I love it here and wish I could live here,” said Éanna. “But it’s crazy here. There’s a demand for space from everyone, not just students. But I think students are exploited, though. I really do.”

Living at home

Meera McCarthy (22), studying for a post-primary teaching qualification, also finds herself living at home as a result of rent prices in Dublin.

“I’m from Dublin so I can commute from home, but that was definitely a decision based on rent price. Nearly all of my friends are doing the same, because it’s just so high,” she said.

Margaret Gleeson, currently in the fourth year of her earth sciences degree at Trinity, is one of the lucky students who was able to find housing.

“I’m sharing an apartment with one girl and its €1,350 a month - that’s without bills, without bins, without anything,” she said.

“It’s a colossal amount of money to be spending just for somewhere to live.

“There aren’t enough places and it’s so stressful trying to get something. It’s off-putting coming to Dublin when the prices are so high.”