{"id":620610,"date":"2026-08-04T21:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/620610\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:24:16","slug":"bill-proposes-to-close-mandatory-charges-loophole-in-student-rents-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/620610\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill proposes to close mandatory charges \u2018loophole\u2019 in student rents \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposed legislation <\/a>to close a \u201cloophole\u201d in how student rent is charged would require accommodation providers to include mandatory service charges in the rental price.<\/p>\n

The Residential Tenancies (Student Rent) Bill aims to prevent student landlords of campus and private housing from circumventing rent controls and the 2 per cent limit in annual increases.<\/p>\n

Labour further and higher education spokeswoman Senator Laura Harmon<\/a>, who will launch the legislation on Wednesday, said mandatory fees, often labelled as service charges, can include utilities, bins, security or anything to do with the building in which students are housed.<\/p>\n

Mandatory service charges have risen to very high rates, she said.<\/p>\n

Average student rent on campus ranges from \u20ac800 to \u20ac1,400. The Cork-based Senator <\/a>cited increased charges\/rent at College Park apartments in DCU, Glasnevin, last year.<\/p>\n

In the 2024-25 academic year, DCU charged monthly rent of \u20ac755 with a mandatory monthly service charge of \u20ac87 for a total of \u20ac842. The following year, 2025-26, rent increased to \u20ac768 a month while the service charge rose to \u20ac130, a total cost of \u20ac898 a month.<\/p>\n

Harmon said the rent increased by 1.7 per cent or \u20ac13 a month, but the service charge rose by \u20ac43 and the total increase was \u20ac56 or 6.7 per cent a month, well above the 2 per cent rent control rate.<\/p>\n

In September last year, Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless <\/a>wrote to DCU president Prof D\u00e1ire Keogh expressing dissatisfaction with the charges amid a student accommodation crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this approach may be technically within the letter of the law, I do not believe it is in the spirit of the law and I am therefore asking DCU to reconsider this decision,\u201d said Lawless in the letter.<\/p>\n

In a response, Keogh maintained the rents are \u201ccharged to the letter of the RPZ [Rent Pressure Zone] law and additional service costs are calculated within the spirit of this legislation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reject any suggestion that DCU has sought to exploit loopholes in rent pressure protections,\u201d he said, adding that utilities and services are charged separately.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dessie Can Do It, part one: the birth of a new political force <\/p>\n

A spokesperson for DCU said on Tuesday the service charge \u201cis on a cost-recovery basis and costs incurred are dictated by market conditions, not DCU\u201d and includes 24\/7 security, waste collection, cleaning and internet connectivity.<\/p>\n

\u201cA College Park single room will cost \u20ac197.75 per week for the coming academic year, which represents a 1.96 per cent increase compared to 2025\/2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe service charge for that same room, which is charged monthly, is \u20ac118.52, an increase of \u20ac2.37 from 2025\/2026. This is a result of increases in energy costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Service charges for double and deluxe rooms are higher than for single rooms.<\/p>\n

Harmon, a former USI (Union of Students in Ireland) president, said her Bill \u201cwill close that loophole and ensure we amend the Residential Tenancies Act so that student rent or anywhere designated for student accommodation, whether on campus or privately, would list all mandatory charges\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said it would not include discretionary or optional charges but \u201cthose you can\u2019t opt out of. That would protect students and help to keep rents down in a rental and cost of living crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing stopping any provider from recovering these charges or including them in the price, but the legislation will ensure that it\u2019s all included under rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harmon has asked the Minister to work with her on the legislation, which will not be in place for the upcoming academic year. She said, \u201cit would add more teeth to what the Government is trying to do\u201d.<\/p>\n

USI, now called Aml\u00e9 (Aontas na Mac L\u00e9inn in \u00c9irinn), has described the mandatory service fees as \u201cbogus charges\u201d.<\/p>\n

President of Aml\u00e9 Daniel Walsh said the union had been calling for certainty for students and their families on fees, on accessing accommodation, and in what they are paying for rent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is good to see legislation coming forward to close that particular loophole and ensure that students aren\u2019t paying above what they should be paying.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Lawless had identified this as a problem in 2025 and said he was going to bring forward legislation. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen legislation from the Government so hopefully they\u2019ll jump on this opportunity and ensure student renters are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Further and Higher Education has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposed legislation to close a \u201cloophole\u201d in how student rent is charged would require accommodation providers to include…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,6,19,17,9171,11,12,15,16,5,57326,28196,4097,7,8],"class_list":["post-620610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-labour-party","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-rent-tax-credit","tag-rent-pressure-zones","tag-renting","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117039351486727183","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}