Charity Argues for More Purpose Built Student Accommodation in Ireland

Irish housing charity Threshold have called for students to be taken out of private rented homes in order to free up the sector and ease the 'accommodation crisis' the country is currently facing.

Chief Executive of Threshold, Bob Jordan, spoke before a parliamentary watchdog this week on the topic of housing shortages and homelessness. He advocated tax breaks for developers in order to incentivise the construction of on-campus accommodation, which he argues will "free-up immediate supply in the rented sector".

Specifically he said, "Student accommodation should be on campus - purpose-built student accommodation that takes students out of the mainstream market. Students require a particular type of accommodation, they require it for a particular period of time and it should be affordable."

"There is an opportunity there to do that."

The tax break he is alluding is the 'Section 50' tax break which was phased out after the credit crunch.

As well as criticising a failing supply side Mr Jordan also criticised universities for raising the cost of on-campus accommodation in recent years.

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