Deficit of 39,000 student bed spaces in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

There was a deficit of at least 38,900 student bed spaces in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway at the end of 2025, according to an analysis of the sector by Sherry FitzGerald, Ireland’s biggest estate agent.

This shortfall increases to 53,000 if a shorter commutable distance for students attending third level in Dublin is assumed, Sherry Fitz said.

The company put this down to the limited development of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) here in recent years.

“In the past few years, elevated construction and borrowing costs impacted the viability of PBSA developments, which coupled with uncertainty, reduced development activity at a time when student numbers were growing,” said Jean Behan, senior economist and head of research at Sherry Fitz.

“This created a growing divergence between the demand for and supply of PBSA accommodation and placed additional pressures on the private rental market.”

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At the end of 2025, the number of PBSA bed spaces in the State totalled 47,600, Sherry Fitz said. The number of full-time students in HEA-registered third level institutes for the 2024/2025 academic year stood at 215,585.

According to Sherry Fitz, Dublin faces the most acute pressure, with a student-to-bed space ratio of 2.7 based on the assumption that all students originating outside of Dublin require accommodation.

If the assumed commutable distance is extended to include counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, this ratio falls to 2.

Student-to-bed ratios for the southwest, midwest and west regions, which incorporate Cork, Limerick and Galway, ranged from 1.3 to 2.5 at the end 2025, the estate agent said.

With about 2,600 student beds under construction across the State at the end of last year, these shortages are set to persist in the medium term.

And while planning permission has been granted for about 13,800 beds, some 35 per cent are in developments that have been put on hold.

According to a recent analysis by construction consultants Mitchell McDermott, just 657 student beds were delivered in 2025 with only 422 beds projected for 2026.

It also noted that since 2022 the Government has announced funding of more than €500 million for the construction and refurbishment of student accommodation at Irish universities.

This was expected to deliver about 3,700 student beds but to date only 116 have become available with a further 493 at construction stage.

Sherry Fitz noted that the forthcoming National Student Accommodation Strategy was expected to help address shortages in the market and support the delivery of additional bed spaces. In addition, various measures being implemented by the Government to tackle shortages in the private residential market should also help increase activity in the PBSA market.

This includes the reduced 9 per cent VAT rate on new developments announced in the last budget.

“Measures aimed at improving the viability of developments are welcomed. However, it will also be necessary to ensure that the conditions necessary to attract private capital to the market are also in place if the divergence between demand and supply is to be reduced,” Ms Behan said.