On-campus accommodation prices set to increase more than originally planned
By Martin Healy | Feb 16 2017
DESPITE stating otherwise last October, UCD Students’ Union President Conor Viscardi has admitted that on-campus accommodation price increases will be higher than expected.In a UCDSU executive meeting at the end of last year on 23rd November, Viscardi stated that residence prices are actually expected to go up by 6% in the next two years. This is an increase on Viscardi’s prior statement, who told the Observer last October that he believed increases were only going to be around 2% or 3%.In the executive meeting minutes, Viscardi notes that a 1 to 2% increase is normal and accounts for inflation, but instead the increase will be double that.Residence rates have increased by 40% over the past four years. This increase - which caused on-campus catered rates to go from €776 on average in 2013 to an average of €1,145 in 2016 – was put in place for the 354 residences that were completed last summer as part of the new Ashfield residence.Fees increased slowly in the years just prior to 2013, but saw a sharp increase after 2013 in order to further fund maintenance costs and new accommodation.Over the next decade, as per the UCD Campus Development Plan, the university looks to construct up to 3,000 new beds.