Accommodation crisis: Leitrim students forced to 'drive a couple of hours to get to college'

A Leitrim councillor has said that local students are struggling to source accommodation with many having no choice but to couch surf or leave college altogether. 

Cllr Padraig Fallon said: "On top of the almost impossible task of securing accommodation, students and families are now being hit with staggering additional costs on top of their rent. Rents are sky high, beds are unavailable, and students are being forced into long commutes, couch surfing, or worse, simply giving up on college altogether. The government needs to get its head out of the sand.  Students and families need action to end the rip off and give our young people a real chance.”

He said because of Leitrim's proximity to Sligo ATU, he receives calls from people all over the country asking if there is "anything I can do with sourcing student accommodation. It's very difficult. I know every year that I help two or three but it's getting much more difficult."

He continued that: "There are some you are not able to help. The ATU is as fine a facility and has the courses that we have anywhere so many students want to go there. I know of several who are driving a couple of hours to get there. It is far from ideal."

He was speaking after an Oireachtas committee will heard that the lack of accommodation is the biggest barrier to students in Ireland accessing and completing higher education with Bryan O’Mahony, president of Amlé, the union of students in Ireland, speaking at the event. 

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It was revealed that total monthly payments at on-campus student accommodation in Dublin increased by almost 7 per cent this year via fees that fall outside the scope of rent restrictions, according to The Irish Times.

Mandatory monthly service charges for the college park apartments at Dublin City University’s (DCU’s) Glasnevin campus increased from €87 in 2024 to €130 in 2025, tenant records show while rent rose from €755 to €768 per month with the overall monthly payment rising by €55.51. 

It was also revealed that the cost of off-campus student accommodation at University College Cork (UCC) will rise as high as €14,000 for the college year, up to double that charged within the university’s own residences.

Cllr Fallon said that he was aware of students who are "couch surfing and staying with others who have secured accommodation; far from ideal either. Students do, for the most part, tend to help and look out for each other but then I know that some are afraid that in helping fellow students and friends, they are risking their own tenancy. They have agreements signed with whoever their landlords are and there is criteria in place around the number of individuals that are in the house or apartment."

He added that he was aware of one student who deferred attending this college due to being unbale to source accommodation. 

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) appealed to homeowners across Sligo, Galway, Donegal and Mayo to consider offering a spare room in their home to a student for the upcoming academic year, under the national Rent-a-Room scheme, earlier this year. 

Cllr Fallon stated: "You could receive up to €14,000 tax-free if you rent a room to student. I don't know of many that have availed of it, to be honest. I do know someone who was considering it and the tax-free element appealed to them but they were worried about whether or not impact on their pension next year; it is income even though it's tax-free and they wondered how that would affect their payments."

Cllr Fallon continued that he believed that "student accommodation needs to be looked at and we've seen the farce previously where accommodation that was built and designed for students years ago was taken out of that market and that was wrong; we saw that in Sligo with Milligan Court and another facility. The likes of that should never be allowed. The sector does need regulation."

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Last week, the Department of Higher Education said the Student Accommodation Strategy has been delayed again and will now not be published until later this year.