Tipp TD welcomes new emergency legislation on student accommodation crisis

Tipperary TD has welcomed the news that emergency legislation has passed meaning that student-specific accommodation providers will no longer be permitted to impose 51-week leases on students.

With just weeks to go until the release of the Leaving Cert results and the annual scramble to secure accommodation for the upcoming college year, Lowry had raised the issue in the Dáil throughout this term because students and their families were being forced to pay for accommodation for 51 weeks of the year, despite the average college academic year being 41 weeks.

“The costs associated with being a third level student are considerable, but paying for an additional 10 weeks of accommodation that a student will not use is exploitation,” said Deputy Lowry.

“However, this is what has been happening, and students have been forced to comply to have a place to live."