DCU’s decision to increase on-campus rents by four per cent has been condemned by the DCU students union who have urged the university to ‘‘seriously reconsider its decision’’.
“Students are already under huge financial burdens in the midst of the accommodation crisis with some facing long commutes from places such as Belfast and the West of Ireland,” said DCU Students’ Union President, Christine Farrell.
“I can only imagine how many more will be joining them on hours-long commutes from around the country simply to educate themselves, something which is an absolute right and not a privilege of those more fortunate,” Farrell said.
The university’s controversial decision means that as of September, the cost of a room in DCUs’ Hampstead Apartments will be €6,502 and the cost of a room in the College Park Apartments will be increased to €7,280, for the 2020/2021 academic year.
Purpose Built Student Accommodation, such as DCU campus accommodation, has fallen under the Residential Tenancies Bill rent caps since July 2019. This cap means rents cannot increase by more than four per cent each year however there is no limit to the number of years the rent can continue to increase for.
The announcement of the rent increases come as UCD and NUIG plan to do the same. Trinity College Dublin’s Finance Committee is also set to discuss the proposition of increasing on-campus rents by four per cent, according to documents acquired by The University Times.
The rent increase on both UCD and DCU campuses come after the creation of additional student accommodation in order to increase capacity.
DCU Chief Operations Officer, Declan Raferty told The College View that the costs of constructing new student accommodation are continuing to rise which is outside the control of the university.
“As there are no government grants or support available for such developments this significant capital investment will be made by DCU itself through debt finance,” he said.
Sinn Féin TD and party housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, has written to the president of DCU, as well as to the presidents of other universities, requesting meetings to discuss proposed on-campus student rent increases.
‘‘High rents are a barrier to education,’’ Ó Broin tweeted on Monday. ‘‘There has to be a better solution to financing of student accommodation.’’
‘‘Students have a right to affordable accommodation and good quality education’’, said Ó Broin.
DCU Students Union have planned a strike on Monday February 24th at 1pm, in the Public Realm on the Glasnevin DCU Campus.