Minister of Education Announces Plan for the Delivery of up to 3,300 New Student Accommodation Beds

This morning, James Lawless TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, announced the publication of an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to support the delivery of thousands of new third-level student beds under the Higher Education Institutions Student Accommodation Programme

This programme is a part of the National Student Accommodation Strategy 2026-2035, published earlier in March this year. The strategy “sets out a pathway to make higher education more accessible by addressing two critical challenges, accommodation affordability and accommodation supply and viability”. Among other goals, it primarily aims to address the 15,000-bed deficit, facing a projected requirement of 42,000 student beds by 2035 “without any additional recourse to the private rental sector”.

As part of the EOI process, interested construction and development parties are invited to bid for the funding opportunities to deliver accommodation to the students around Ireland. The on-campus accommodation sites identified in the EOI “offer strong development potential and a unique opportunity to deliver high-quality student accommodation in prime locations across the country, that will enhance access to education, support vibrant student communities and make a meaningful contribution to increasing accommodation supply”.

This phase could deliver up to 3,300 new on-campus beds, while also developing a significant off-campus bed capacity. The first EOI addresses potential on-campus student accommodation projects at Technological University Dublin (TUD) Grangegorman, Munster Technological University in Cork, Atlantic Technological University in Galway, and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT). The second is focused on off-campus locations near Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Cork, Galway and Dublin (potentially including Trinity). Further EOI’s are planned for other locations in the upcoming months.

During the announcement, Lawless stated: “The availability of affordable student accommodation remains one of the key challenges facing students and their families. Through the Higher Education Institution Student Accommodation Programme, we are working closely with the relevant sectors to support the delivery of additional beds, to ensure that students can access and participate in higher education, regardless of where they live.” He called the publication of the EOI’s “an important step towards establishing a pipeline of viable projects that can help address student accommodation needs across the country”.

The purpose of the EOIs “is to gather information on market appetite and readiness; potential development, funding and operational structures; identification of any barriers to development; and determination of suitable s the extent to which “student accommodation can be delivered at or below market rent”

The invitation to submit EOIs was issued to the market on Friday, October 30th, n Union

This plan is more than needed to address the current situation of hundreds of students around Ireland, who are facing exorbitant rent prices, bad conditions, long commutes, and even homelessness. If successful, it would alle private sector, and expand access to higher education across Ireland

Source: universitytimes.ie