It's now illegal for student accommodation providers to enforce a minimum 51-week lease on students.

The President signed the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill into law this afternoon.

This means students can now rent only for as long as the college year lasts, rather than being forced to rent into the summer months too.

Nathan Murphy from the Union of Students in Ireland said the 51-week minimum lease had been unfair on students.

“Currently, with certain student accommodation providers across the country, they are forcing students into a 51-week lease rather than the traditional 41 weeks,” he told Newstalk.

“Seeing this change come in is brilliant because no student is now forced to stay in student accommodation over the summer when many of them would go home or participate in J1 programs, avoiding paying double rent".

Struggling

Mr Murphy said “students are still struggling” and more can be done to help.

“Come September, there will be students commuting from Cork to Dublin every single day, sleeping in their cars, couch surfing, because there is no student accommodation for them,” he said.

“The supply is severely lacking at the moment, and we need to actually start building these commencements that have been announced.”

Main image: Student accomodation. Image: Jonny Abbas / Alamy Stock Photo