After one year in Ireland, my lease at a student accommodation was up, I was about to graduate from college and needed to find accommodation as soon as possible so I can start on my dissertation. Finding accommodation in Ireland has become harder than it was about a year ago when I first moved. The viewing queues were longer. There seemed to be not enough time in a day to accommodate working, room hunting and dissertation. The mental stress that comes with existing as an International student seemed to have gotten worse.
And just when I was about to be out in the streets, a stranger I met one morning recommended me for a room in a church-run student accommodation in Maynooth. This was a great welcome as it gave me three more months to keep looking and open me to new place and people. 6 months down the line I finally found long-term accommodation. There Journey to find accommodation is one that is equally stressful and can really get to you mentally, especially as an International student in Ireland.
A few tips to new students coming in for the new student years to ease the process of accommodation hunting.
- Don’t keep it to yourself, mention to as many people as possible that you are looking for housing, this, of course, should be done at one own discretion but reference means a lot to many landlords/landladies so they are likely to choose someone recommended by someone they know. As that is a good reference than the vice versa. Several of the people I know have found housing through word of mouth rather than online. However, whether you are searching for housing online or offline be careful as there is an increased false listing advertisement.
- Secondly, always check for the online sites, as frequently as possible to catch new listings so as to be among the top interests. The landlords /Landlady receive several emails for instance when checking on daft. ie one of the popular sites for house hunting, it shows the number of views a listing receives and as it is competitive sending emails within the first few minutes or hours would increase your chances of receiving a viewing call back.
Finally, don’t let the stress get to you too much, having been in a position where I have been terrified of being homeless in a foreign country, I know this is a tasking ask but in the end things will pan out the end, ask for advising and seek help with your University or college, they are more likely to offer more solid support and help during this tedious process.
