Minister Urged to Stop the Conversion of PBSA
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Housing minister Darragh O'Brien has been urged to support legislation that would stop student accommodation from being used by tourists.
Uniest was recently granted planning permission to temporary use its 571 student rooms at Grangegorman in Dublin as accommodation for tourists. Similarly, a developer behind a project in Cork is looking to convert part of its scheme into tourist and visitor accommodation.
A housing spokesperson for Labour said the Government must support a bill to prevent developers from changing the use of student developments.
Rebecca Moynihan argued there is a need for stronger planning guidelines on student accommodation to stop developers from turning PBSA into apartments for tourists. She said it was shocking developers are changing planning applications in the depths of a housing crisis.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the applications were temporary but are a matter for the relevant planning authority.
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Head of Research at StuRents
Richard leads the StuRents research team, providing proprietary, platform-driven insights to help stakeholders make better-informed decisions about the market.
