Student accommodation vs Normal accommodation in Dublin?

_Byron_

I was hoping to get student accommodation in Dublin city as opposed to standard shared accommodation but since there's a huge difference in price I might consider the normal accommodation.

I did ring up a few places offering apartments to students for about 75 euro per person but the catch was that you needed a group of 3 to get it that price.

So should I just go with a standard shared apartment in Dublin or try to find other students to get the discount on accommodation in a student specific apartment?

If anyone has any opinions, thanks.

megan2013

The "problem" with normal shared accommodation is that your bills come on top of the maybe more attractive renting price. I think specific purpose built student accommodations in Dublin already include all your main bills which at the end of the month makes a huge difference. Maybe look at it from that point of view. You usually get a set price and that's it then. No more bad surprises after that.

_Byron_

megan2013 wrote: »

The "problem" with normal shared accommodation is that your bills come on top of the maybe more attractive renting price. I think specific purpose built student accommodations in Dublin already include all your main bills which at the end of the month makes a huge difference. Maybe look at it from that point of view. You usually get a set price and that's it then. No more bad surprises after that.

I see, thanks.

NiallQ8787

I'm in the same boat..I don't know whether to try and get student accommodation or normal..plus I'm 26 and heading back to college so I'd be mortified livin with all the 18 year olds hahaha

megan2013

maybe ask them if they have a section for mature students? they might put you in with older people if you ask for it.

_Byron_

NiallQ8787 wrote: »

I'm in the same boat..I don't know whether to try and get student accommodation or normal..plus I'm 26 and heading back to college so I'd be mortified livin with all the 18 year olds hahaha

Well I would have thought a lot of the students would be both older and younger than me, +-23, to be honest there seems to be a lot of shared non-student accommodation around Dublin that (even with additional costs) is much cheaper than student specific, so I'm thinking this.

There is however fairly cheap student accommodation in Dublin for groups of 3 or 4 who decide to share e.g. triple room for 99 PP as opposed to 185 PP if applying individually.

megan2013

Gateway Student Village does 99 Euro per person per week and you can apply individually. You don't need to team up with 3 others there.

_Byron_

megan2013 wrote: »

Gateway Student Village does 99 Euro per person per week and you can apply individually. You don't need to team up with 3 others there.

They do alright, but they are much too far north (for me personally), I'm just browsing for accommodation either city center or slightly south of it. But they are a very good option for some others on here I'm sure.

Tonyandthewhale

Get some friends together and organise to share a house or flat or else find a room in an existing house-share.
On campus or otherwise student specific accommodation is targeted primarily at people who's mammy or daddy are picking up the tab and asking no questions. Prices could easily be half as high again for student accommodation compared to comparable normal accommodation. They'll try and make it look like a good deal by throwing in utilities so you don't have to worry about that but ESB and gas are only a few hundred a year split between however many people are sharing the house and there should be no real hassle in setting up a direct debit so it's a false economy - also, not all student accommodation includes bills. I lived on campus in UCD in first year and we had an electricity meter that we had to keep topped up with pay cards (because silly students couldn't be trusted to set up a direct debit and pay bills like normal adults). Internet was included but it was pretty ****ty - I'd much rather have a lower rent bill and be able to sort out my own internet arrangements.

I also found that student landlords treat their tenants like children. When I was in college in Dublin one of my friends in DIT was living in student specific accommodation (private company though, not on-campus or anything) and they used to have mandatory house inspections and they weren't allowed to have guests call over after a certain time at night (11 o'clock I think). I don't know about you but if I'm handing over good money to rent a home for myself I like to have my privacy and to be able to leave it up to myself who I let in to my house or when.

One advantage of student accommodation is that it's typically pretty close to where-ever you're going to college. This is a genuine advantage but I knew people who were paying 130e a week to live within 1km of UCD whereas I was paying 75e to live 10km away in Fairview (which is still only a 25min commute by bicycle). I had the longer commute to college but I was close to Moore street and the lidl, aldi and tesco on parnell street, plus I could go out on the lash in town and walk home handy enough instead of paying for a taxi out to stillorgan or where-ever. So don't over-state the importance of being right next to college, if your'e a first year you'll probably hardly ever show up anyway.

megan2013

Yes, the privacy issue is definitely right re student accommodation. Not arguing with that.
But don't forget the deposit you have to pay with i.e. ESB and Bord Gas when you are setting up the account for the first time. I was sharing a house with other students 3 years ago and we had massive arguments over the deposit issue. I think Bord Gas wanted 400 Euro deposit unless you set up a direct debit. So who, out of the 3 or 4 friends, wanted to put all the responsibility of paying the bills in his/her name? Especially one guy was always late in paying his share. Was such a pain.... That problem we definitely did not have in the student accommodation on campus the following year. Much easier in that way. But yes, the privacy issue is very annoying.

_Byron_

I called some more student accommodation services and the payment system is half the years money (€2,200) up front and the other half in December... That's a bit difficult to do.

I suppose I can understand given that unlike other accommodation, if students only stayed a month and decided to move back home the apartments might be only half full until the following Sept.

gline

NiallQ8787 wrote: »

I'm in the same boat..I don't know whether to try and get student accommodation or normal..plus I'm 26 and heading back to college so I'd be mortified livin with all the 18 year olds hahaha

Im in the same boat, 29 and going to college, dont fancy the idea of living with current LC students, have to start looking at places in the next 2 weeks

If you tell a standard landlord that you are a student, will that affect if they rent it to you or not? Im worried that could affect me renting as normal.

_Byron_

gline wrote: »

If you tell a standard landlord that you are a student, will that affect if they rent it to you or not? Im worried that could affect me renting as normal.

I can't see why it would make any difference.

gline

_Byron_ wrote: »

I can't see why it would make any difference.

"student" is usually a negative stereotype for landlords

_Byron_

gline wrote: »

"student" is usually a negative stereotype for landlords

Kind of ridiculous because there are plenty of people just renting places in the city to so they can move out, work part time and party (like about 5 of my old friends). All they do is bring people over to drink bottles of millar and don't really care about the rules. On the other hand someone who is going to be a student and possibly working concurrently would clearly have enough on their plate to keep them from been a threat to the landlord, unless a few students were trying to rent the "same place" it shouldn't be a problem.. least I hope not!

gline

_Byron_ wrote: »

Kind of ridiculous because there are plenty of people just renting places in the city to so they can move out, work part time and party (like about 5 of my old friends). All they do is bring people over to drink bottles of millar and don't really care about the rules. On the other hand someone who is going to be a student and possibly working concurrently would clearly have enough on their plate to keep them from been a threat to the landlord, unless a few students were trying to rent the "same place" it shouldn't be a problem.. least I hope not!

I know it "shouldnt" matter at all, but some landlords will avoid students

Mysteriouschic

I've been looking myself . The student accommodation seems high . The few shares on the daft website you might not be sharing with other students. I was looking at gateway or hazelwood but it seems that in between semesters you go home or maybe it isn't like that.

_Byron_

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

I've been looking myself . The student accommodation seems high . The few shares on the daft website you might not be sharing with other students. I was looking at gateway or hazelwood but it seems that in between semesters you go home or maybe it isn't like that.

I have decided to accept that I'll be sharing with randomers and not students because I was checking out rent.ie and it's cheaper so I don't really mind. At the end of the day if you're studying, attending a college/University and maybe working part time, it might not really matter who you're living with because you'll be so busy?

Gateway and Hazelwood start at around 90-100/week for students I think?

gline

_Byron_ wrote: »

At the end of the day if you're studying, attending a college/University and maybe working part time, it might not really matter who you're living with because you'll be so busy?

Or it can be unbearable enough that you cant study when home.... It all depends on who your living with, this can happen when living with students aswell, its luck of the draw really. Ive decided to just get a studio apartment or similar, costs about the same anyway and at least you are in control of your own kitchen/bathroom etc.
It suits some people to share and not others. I honestly couldnt imagine sharing with a house full of brand new undergrads (18-19 year olds), but thats just me.

Mysteriouschic

_Byron_ wrote: »

I have decided to accept that I'll be sharing with randomers and not students because I was checking out rent.ie and it's cheaper so I don't really mind. At the end of the day if you're studying, attending a college/University and maybe working part time, it might not really matter who you're living with because you'll be so busy?

Gateway and Hazelwood start at around 90-100/week for students I think?

Yeah I think so. I'm 20 but I'm not the type of student that goes out every weekend . I do go out but just not as much as most. My college is in town anyway I did want to find a general house but I couldn't find one that seemed good and I didn't know if people would want to share with a student. I may only try it for this year and hope that I get to know people there and move out with them next year. I'd love to get to know flatmates.Unless you'd spend all your time in your own room. I also wanted a room that comes with a desk not all places have rooms with desks.

megan2013

Mysteriouschic wrote: »

I've been looking myself . The student accommodation seems high . The few shares on the daft website you might not be sharing with other students. I was looking at gateway or hazelwood but it seems that in between semesters you go home or maybe it isn't like that.

In Gateway Student Village you can definitely stay during the summer as well if you wanted to...

_Byron_

In an ideal world students for the coming academic year would get to know one another during the summer and then be able to move in to apartments as small groups of 3-5 based on compatibility in study, sleeping hours, interests etc. Of course most places just have one vacancy at a time so it might be hard for groups to move into shared accommodation in one go. From a financial point of view this would be a great advantage over the costs and payment methods associated with actual student accommodation.