UCD students union reveals video evidence of the state of rooms being rented during term time
UCD students say they are being offered "semi-derelict" buildings to live in during term time.
Their students union has gone undercover using Snapchat to get video evidence of the substandard accommodation they are being offered on the rental market.
Barry Murphy, the UCD students union officer, said: "One of the places I visited, it was being advertised at €150 a week, when I got there it was €750 a month and it was to share a room with two strangers.
"The house was semi-dereleict if you like, there was cracks everywhere, there was damp, mould, there were holes where vermin could enter the building."
The students said they have uncovered some shameful housing offers since starting their investigation – with landlords attempting to pack up to 15 people into a house with one bathroom and others asking for deposits and rent in cash with no contract.
The average rent in the capital is now more than €1,600 per month, with availability expected to drop the closer we get to term time.
Barry says they have to get their money's worth.
He said: "Students aren't expecting to live in luxury, they are living out of home for the first time, they are living with friends, they do have house parties, but that is not a reason for them to live in squalor.
"That is not a reason for them to have housing that doesn't meet the housing regulations."
Barry sent us some examples of what he came across as he went house-hunting in the past few days.
