UCC Students Union say some students are feeling increasingly ‘helpless’ about the prospect of finding an affordable place to live in the city.
Student Union Welfare Officer Alannah O’Connor says the union are being contacted by up to 60 students a day who are concerned they will have no student accommodation secured by the time their courses starts.
The high price of student accommodation is leading some students to take up full time work, which is in turn having a negative impact on their grades, according to the union.
Speaking to RedFM News, UCC SU Welfare Officer Alannah O’Connor outlines some of the other concerns of the students contacting her office:
"There's a lot of people who are going to have to resort to commuting or couchsurfing, we don't have numbers yet. I'd say by the end of this month, we'll kind of know what the numbers of that are, but a lot of people are helpless and don't know where to look. They don't know what their options are. They don't know whether they're going to be able to find a house or whether they're going to be able to stay in college. A lot of international students as well who are coming into Ireland expecting to be able to find a house straightaway and there's just they're kind of left helpless. They don't know where to look or what to do."
