Proposed Grangegorman student accommodation will be unaffordable for students, according to Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Students’ Union and Dublin City Councillors.
There are concerns about both the expense of the accommodation and about the concentration of students already living in the area.
NTM Capital, who describe themselves as “a leading alternative fund manager in the student accommodation sector” have already begun construction on the North Circular Road site.
An application has been made to An Bord Pleanála for the land NTM desires to use for the build, however, as Dublin City Council owns some of this land, they will have to agree to the sale of it before any construction on it can begin.
Councillor Janice Boylan and Councillor Christy Burke have voiced their opinions on the amount of student accommodation in the area already, with Burke voicing the growing anxiety of elderly residents in the area and Boylan describing the student accommodation as an “over-concentration.”
DIT SU President Pierre Yimbog said he understood why the Councillors may try to block the building of more accommodation for students as “there are loads of student accommodations being built around the Grangegorman campus where all the DIT campuses will be moving to.”
New private student accommodations have been appearing across Dublin city this year. Yimbog said that these accommodations built by private developers are “totally unaffordable for students.”
He said DIT SU have “informed the likes of Aparto, Uninest and Swuite that we don’t approve of their prices and how they treat students,” and that students are forced to “rely on whatever is available in a vastly overpriced market.”
Workers’ Party Councillor Éilis Ryan has said that students will choose not to live in the new apartments that INM are building, due to their expense.
Green Party Councillor Ciarán Cuffe said, “There’s concern in Dublin’s north inner city that we’re seeing a lot of student housing, but almost no family homes being built.”
Cuffe said residents worries are “suggesting that a limit be put on the percentage of student housing in the area.”
This all comes after the recent National Housing Protest where thousands of people took to the street to demand fair and affordable accommodation for all.
Róisín Phelan
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