Longford students facing 'increasingly desperate search for somewhere to live'
The warning has come from the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) who stated the shortage of accommodation has reached a critical point, with students facing intense competition.
Longford students and students across the country are facing an increasingly desperate search for somewhere to live, with CAO offers out today and thousands of students beginning their search for accommodation for the 2026/2027 academic year.
That is the warning from the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) who stated the shortage of accommodation has reached a critical point, with students facing intense competition for a limited supply of rooms and rental properties.
The Government’s own National Student Accommodation Strategy acknowledges that Ireland currently has a deficit of approximately 15,000 student beds and estimates that around 42,000 additional beds will be required by 2035.
However, property owners are warning that the student accommodation crisis is directly linked to the wider shortage of private rental accommodation, with students competing for homes alongside families, young professionals and other renters.
Mary Conway, Chairperson of the IPOA, said, “Students receiving their college offers today should be looking forward to starting the next chapter of their lives. Instead, many will now face the anxiety of wondering whether they can actually find somewhere to live.”
“The reality is that there simply is not enough accommodation available.
"Students are competing for a limited pool of properties,
and that problem has been allowed to develop over many years while the supply of private rental accommodation has continued to come under pressure.”
The latest Residential Tenancies Board figures show that 7,062 Notices of Termination were received in the first quarter of 2026,
compared with 4,693 in Q1 2025.
The IPOA said the continued loss of rental properties and the failure to provide sufficient new supply is creating an environment
in which students have fewer legitimate options and are increasingly under pressure to secure accommodation as quickly as possible.
The IPOA said Government must urgently address policies which it believes are contributing to landlords leaving the private rental
sector and reducing the availability of long-term rental accommodation.
Ms Conway said, “Government cannot continue to make it more difficult and less attractive to provide long-term rental accommodation. Every time a rental property is lost from the market, the number of legitimate options available to somebody looking for accommodation becomes smaller.
“We need to see an urgent change of direction. Government needs to make retaining landlords in the private rental market a priority,
while also accelerating the delivery of new student accommodation and new rental homes."