Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
126. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for an update on the funding for the construction of affordable student accommodation in Galway, announced in November 2022; to clarify if the State will own or partially own the units, once built; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45734/23]
View answerSince last November I have secured Government approval of up to €61m in funding to unlock the development of approximately 1,000 new and additional student accommodation beds across four universities. These projects are being progressed as immediate response measures to unlock supply of affordable accommodation in partnership with our University sector. This measure is being implemented pending the development of a long term sustainable model for State supported student accommodation.
Under this programme, Higher Education Institutions were invited to submit project proposals for feasibility assessment. These were projects that had planning permission already in place but had not been developed due to viability concerns linked to rising construction and financing costs.
Subject to compliance and approvals, funding will be allocated to the Universities through the HEA in accordance with agreed procedures. The funding is provided specifically to address the viability gap and to ensure that an agreed number of beds are provided at affordable rates for target group students. These buildings developed under the short term activation measures will remain in the ownership of the Universities.
The University of Galway (UG) received approval to progress a proposed lease of 242 additional beds over 15 years, subject to review. Long-term leasing of new student accommodation can aid the response to demographic growth pressures being faced by the sector for a fixed period of time to mitigate medium term supply issues. This proposal is currently nearing the end of the due diligence process.
For the current academic year there are an additional 938 beds available in publicly funded Higher Education Institutions with 674 of these in University of Galway. HEIs have reported that there are c. 134 digs properties available in Galway as of the 13th October.
Since 2016, 14,079 purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) beds have been built with 1,739 built in Galway. Work is underway on site on an additional 7,023 bed spaces. Planning permission has been obtained for a further 11,008 with 2,014 of these beds planned for Galway. A further 1,712 have applied for planning permission. The total level of PBSA stock is over 48,000 as of Q3 2023.
