A UCD student claims he has had broken heating for five months.
Campus accommodation begins at €180.96 per week and reaches a maximum of €314.79 per week according to their website.
First year student Caillum Hedderman moved from Limerick to study at the south side university but between savings and working while studying, like many other students, he is struggling to make ends meet.
He told Dublin Live: “I think fundamentally it’s just too expensive, I'm a first year student from rural Limerick. I lived at home my whole life but I've moved out for the first time to study away from home for college.
“It’s difficult enough as it is without accommodation, the cost of living in Dublin is high enough and our tuition fees are the highest in Europe too."
Mr Hedderman spoke of how the cost of accommodation is causing poverty among students and that they aren’t getting their money's worth.
“I was lucky enough to get campus but I’ve been working the last couple of years to save up and my savings have definitely been hit by moving to Dublin,” he added.
"The rooms are overly expensive but I consider myself one of the lucky ones even though it’s a crazy position to be in saying that I'm paying over €1,000 a month for a bedroom, bathroom and shared kitchen.
“The big issue is that there isn’t government support for young people and poverty levels that are rising among students.
“Students are missing meals because they’re struggling to make rent and a lot of my friends from home decided not to go to college this year because they didn’t have enough money to move out.
“The quality of the accommodation itself has some issues. For myself, I've been living without heating for five months and I've been requesting for it to be fixed for two months but it hasn’t even been looked at...it’s a struggle to get them fixed and there’s still construction going on here which is being prioritised.”
Caillum believes that he is one of the lucky ones even though the cost of accommodation continues to be a barrier to education.
He said: “I've been living off wages for the last two years. I'm working 20 to 30 hours part-time in Dublin too, on top of studying. I’m lucky to be on campus, I don't have to pay for buses. One of my friends commutes for two hours and they could be spending up to €100 a week on transport.
“The price of accommodation should never be a barrier to education, it’s not fair, it’s not accessible. I’m lucky to be in the position I'm in but a lot of people can’t afford rent or tuition. Everyone deserves an education, the basic necessity of housing is becoming a barrier.
“We’re young people too, we need to be able to have fun too. I’ve been told my whole life that college is the best time. It’s about enjoying it but that’s hard to do when you’re worrying about money.
“A lot of people struggle to have a social life because there’s no support from the university or the government.”
Dublin Live has contacted both UCD Residence Operations and UCD Communications Department for comment.
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter.
