Student rent
Half of students across the country did not have their rent deposits returned when they were forced to leave their accommodation.
A new survey by Threshold shows that 78% of students are now worried about their ability to pay rent.
While just over 20% of those who are seeking accommodation for this year have been asked to pay four months rent or more in advance.
Threshold's Student Housing Survey found that 45% of #students have been asked to pay more than 1 month’s rent in security deposits and 21% of those seeking accommodation for the new academic year have been asked to pay 4 months’ rent or more in advance.https://t.co/641Sr6ME8F
— Threshold (@ThresholdIRE) September 10, 2020
USI President, Lorna Fitzpatrick said:
"This is an extremely difficult time for students and their families."
"Many students are getting information about timetables in dribs and drabs from their institutions, which leaves them in very uncertain positions over their accommodation needs."
"USI recently called on the government to introduce legislation for emergency provisions to ensure student renters are not hit by a repeat of what happened in March, when colleges closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and deposits and prepaid rent were not returned."
"The practice of looking for more than one month's rent upfront leaves students in a very difficult situation."
"It should not happen any year, but this year many students have lost their jobs because of the pandemic and are in even more trying financial positions."
"Research in relation to Covid-19 carried out by the USI earlier this summer shows that 60 per cent of students are 'concerned,' 'very concerned' or 'extremely concerned' about their ability to manage financially over the next year; asking for so much money upfront is extremely unfair."
"A Deposit Protection Scheme was legislated for five years ago, but has yet to be implemented - this government must make this a priority."
Housing charity Threshold has three key asks for government with regard to rental deposits:
- Legally define a rental deposit
- Limit rental deposits to the value of one month’s rent
- Implement Deposit Protection Scheme
More information on the survey can be found here.
