University of Limerick announce new 20 house student village
THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick have announced a new 80 bedroom student village to address the shortfall in accommodation.
The new village will consist of 20 A-rated houses in Rhebogue and construction is expected to commence next month with work to finish by August 2023.
The new student village at Rhebogue will be constructed by a private developer and purchased by the University through the UL subsidiary Plassey Campus Centre.
UL Provost and Deputy President Professor Shane Kilcommins has warmly welcomed the announcement of the new UL student village, the purchase of which has this week been approved by the UL Governing Authority.
"We are looking at every single possibility we can to try to meet the huge demand for accommodation for our student community.
"This new development at Rhebogue will allow for community and multi-generational living for our students among the existing vibrant community of Rhebogue.
"The village will be fully managed by the University in the same way as our on-campus accommodation and we very much hope to work with the residents of Rhebogue to establish local initiatives, volunteering and community engagement between the UL students along with our neighbours.
"We will be connecting with local resident’s associations to ensure they are fully informed of plan for the student village."
Professor Kilcommins continued: "The current student accommodation crisis cannot solely be resolved by the higher education institutions.
"There needs to be a multi-stakeholder approach, supported by Government, to ensure third level students are adequately and appropriately accommodated.
"The purchase of these 20 new houses is just one of the short to medium term responses identified by UL, however the demand for student accommodation is likely to persist in line with our national housing shortage.
"UL is also working with our HEI partners Mary Immaculate College and the Technical University of the Shannon, Midlands and Midwest (TUSMM) on an advertising campaign to encourage local homeowners in the Limerick area to rent rooms in their homes to Limerick higher education students."