Students forced to sofa surf as accommodation crisis worsens

Students have been warned they may have to kip on friends’ couches or stay in B&Bs and hostels for at least the first month of the new college year as the city’s housing shortage crisis hits a new low.

Each year in August and September, students jostle with each other to find accommodation in Galway for the upcoming term.

But student leaders are fearful 2015 could be the worst yet as several factors have created the ‘perfect storm’.

“We expect this year will be extremely difficult to get accommodation for students. There have been no new homes built in Galway in years and there hasn’t been any student specific accommodation built in seven or eight years. Young professionals are renting properties that students would normally rent, which is creating more shortages.

“And there has been an increase in rents, which is making it less affordable, and an increase in demand for houses in Galway because there has been an increase in the number of students looking for somewhere to stay due to an increase in popularity for courses offered at NUIG and GMIT,” said Feidhlim Seoighe, Union of Students in Ireland, Vice President for the Border Midlands and Western Area.

“The search for places has already begun for returning students and the big scramble for accommodation will start next Monday when the CAO offers are out. We expect that this crisis will not die down until well into September. Students will be sleeping on couches and forced to stay in B&Bs and hostels until they find suitable accommodation,” said Mr Seoighe, from Renmore.

USI is urging homeowners living nearby GMIT and NUIG to consider renting a room out to students, which could earn tax-free income of up to €12,000 under the rent-a-room-scheme.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune