A new report from Daft.ie will be sober reading for thousands of school-leavers across the country who are beginning the search for student accommodation. 
 
At the beginning of August there were 1,400 properties available to rent in Dublin, but the majority of these are beyond the means of the typical student. Daft.ie warn they will instead be forced to join the queues outside apartment buildings, competing with young professionals, families, and every other person vying to secure a roof over their head.

Rents in Dublin are now 34% higher than ever before. This follows six straight years of increases in the cost of renting in Dublin. Last year, 38 students were recorded as homeless resorting to sleeping on friends couches or in their cars, two even sleeping rough on the streets. 
 
According to Daft.ie, "The Government's strategy for student housing leaves a lot to be desired, relying solely on the private sector to bulk out the number of beds in purpose-built student accommodation. The reality is that these privately-owned developments are priced way beyond the means of the vast majority of students, with weekly rates in excess of €230. These uber-luxurious complexes are attractive not to the student from a middle-income family in Clare or Tipperary, but to international students."

They added, "This may seem like it is freeing up beds in other more appropriately priced residencies, but in reality, these beds are becoming available in-line with the rise of these students in our universities and colleges. We've also witnessed our higher education institutions use the market rates of these for-profit providers as an excuse to hike the price of rooms in the accommodation they provide to similar levels, using income from accommodation to make-up for the severe underfunding of the education sector."

Source: www.businessworld.ie