Galway students face 18% rise in private accommodation costs

Students living in private accommodation in Galway are facing an almost 20 per cent increase in their weekly payments through a rise in rent and an increase in service charges.

Advertised rent rates for a deluxe room with a shared bathroom at the Cúirt na Coiribe apartment complex in Galway city have risen from €182 per week for the final semester in 2025 to €199 per week for the final semester in 2026, a 9 per cent increase.

Rent pressure zone (RPZ) rules cap rent increases at 2 per cent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, meaning this rise is more than three times that limit.

Mandatory service charges at the complex have already risen significantly, from €28 a week last year to €50 a week this year. The fees cover electricity, internet, waste disposal and security, according to the Mezzino website, the company which runs the accommodation.

Adding both of these increases together would see total weekly payments rise by 18 per cent.

Mezzino justified the rent increase by saying it was not a like-for-like comparison because the €182-per-week fee was for a two-semester contract, while the €199 fee was for a one-semester contract. It said the equivalent rate for a two-semester contract next year was €185 per week.

However, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) confirmed the RPZ rules apply “irrespective of the length of the tenancy”, meaning the rate should not change or be increased solely because of the length of tenure.

The increase in the service charge does not appear to break RPZ rules.

The RTB, which monitors rental law breaches, said an increase in service charges is permissible under rental laws as long as the charge has always been paid separately to the rent, and noted as such in the lease agreement.

“If service charges are paid separately to the rent, they should only increase based on actual increases to the cost of the service. As a matter of good practice, the landlord should provide receipts/bills to the tenant to show the required increase,” an RTB spokeswoman said.

“New additional charges cannot be used to circumvent provisions under the Residential Tenancies Act that prevent rent from being increased above permitted limits in rent pressure zone areas.”

The Irish Times previously highlighted such practice at on-campus student accommodation at Dublin City University, where total monthly payments increased by almost 7 per cent, largely because of a rise in mandatory monthly service charges.

In response, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless wrote to the president of DCU, Dáire Keogh, asking him to reconsider the price increase.

“While 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,” Mr Lawless said at the time.