No fall in student rent prices over the past year, report says

The latest Daft.ie report shows rents have remained largely unchanged across the country for students.

THE PRICE OF student housing and accommodation has stayed mostly the same over the past year, a new report from property website Daft.ie has found. 

The Student Housing Report released today shows the average cost of a room in a shared property in Dublin is up 0.3% on last year. Elsewhere in the country, it is up 2.8% on average. 

Author of the report and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) economist, Ronan Lyons, said a year with largely unchanged rents is “perhaps not the worst outcome for students”. 

“For students preparing for the 2020/21 academic year, there is little evidence of any Covid-19 effect on rents,” Lyons said in a statement.

Indeed, in most market segments of interest to students, rents may if anything be slightly higher than last year.

The report found the average cost of a room in a shared property in Dublin is €680 per month and €462 in other parts of the country.

Rent prices for full properties rose by 1.2% in the year up to July but remained largely unchanged in Dublin city, rising by 0.2%. 

The report also looked at purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). 

It said there are around 19,000 units available in Dublin, which falls “well short” of the 26,000 required this year. 

Dublin has seen a large increase in available PBSA units in the last five years, but the report said supply in Cork, Galway and Limerick hasn’t increased substantially in the last few years. 

TCD has the highest rental costs in the country for three-bed properties within 2km of the college, standing at €2,756 a month on average. 

This is followed by University College Dublin, the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Technological University Dublin and Dublin City University. 

The price of a single bedroom in Dublin costs between €507 and €690 per month and a double bedroom varies from €636 to €806. 

In Cork city centre, the price of a single room stands at €493 per month and €593 for a double room.

Meanwhile in Connacht, a room costs between €310 and €356 per month on average.

Consumer sentiment

A separate survey published today by MyHome.ie has suggested that 71% of potential buyers are planning on purchasing a property in the next year.

The survey of 2,716 people found that 40% of people expect property prices will fall by up to 10% in the next year.

A further 76% of people said they felt the government could do more to help the property sector.
MyHome.ie managing director Angela Keegan, however, said supply of housing remains a concern.

She said: “Our analysis shows that stock levels are down by 22% year-on-year, which is concerning. A healthy, functioning property market needs a good balance of supply and demand, and as such we need to see construction continue unimpeded over the winter if at all possible.”

Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.