Dublin Colleges Calling On Homeowners To Rent Out Spare Rooms To Students

Dublin homeowners are being called upon to rent out spare rooms in their houses to college students looking for somewhere to live for the academic year.

The Journal reports that the student unions of Trinity College Dublin and UCD have joined forces with property website Daft to encourage people to help accommodate students.

As the current housing crisis grips Dublin, students are struggling to find anywhere affordable to live. "Digs", known as then homeowners rent out rooms to students, usually from the country, enable homeowners to earn up to €14,000 tax-free.

TCDSU president Katie Ascough said that there are currently over 120,000 "empty nesters" who have unused rooms in their homes.

“That’s a lot of vacant beds in an overcrowded housing market,” she said.

"If we can widely relay information on the associated tax breaks that come with digs, we should be able to put hundreds of new beds on a starved market in time for September."

Would you rent out your spare room to a student?