A SURVEY OF international students in Ireland has found that 13% of the cohort have been the victim of an accommodation scam.

Research by the Irish Council of International Students (ICOS) also found that five percent of the students they surveyed have been offered a room to stay in return for sex or have seen an advert including the offer.

Executive Director of ICOS Laura Harmon says the results of this research has put the country’s reputation abroad at risk.

The ICOS research, that asked 819 international students in Ireland a range of questions relating to housing, found that only 11% of students who were the victim of an accommodation scam reported the incident to gardaí.

A number of warnings about scams were released by organisations, including gardaí, before the beginning of the university semester after approximately €2 million stolen in accommodation fraud in last five years.

Vice President for Welfare of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Colette Murphy told The Journal at the time that international students are much more likely to be a victim of an accommodation scam.

Murphy said this was due to domestic students usually having much more freedom in their choices and can spot a red flags easier, compared to students who are attempting to find somewhere to stay from outside of the country.

There are currently over 30,000 international students in Ireland, according to the Irish Universities Association.

Some of these students, who ICOS spoke to, have since had difficulty finding suitable accommodation with high rents, long commutes and unsuitable living conditions becoming a theme in the answers they received.

A Bolivian English language student said: “The house is very uncomfortable, there are two bathrooms for 13 people and the rent is very high.

“There is no heating and we always have problems with the fridge, the roof is also leaking.”

Another student, from Italy, highlighted the two and a half hour commute they have from their accommodation to their college.

“Student accommodations have crazy prices so that’s the only solution I found with a fair price,” they added.

One in ten of the respondents said they paid more than €1,000 in rent per month. The majority, 67%, live in a shared house or apartment while very few, 3%, live in on-campus accommodation, provided by the university.

The research found that 81% of English language students and almost a third (31%) of students studying in higher education share a room with at least one other person. 

In the case of one Brazilian English language student, this has led to them sharing a bed with one other person, who they don’t know, for the last number of months. 

Over half (55%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their mental health has suffered due to the housing crisis and lack of available accommodation in Ireland.

This crisis, particularly for students, has also led to advertisements seeking to take advantage of this desperate cohort.

Adverts asking students for sex in-lieu of rent have been seen or offered to five percent of the group. One student, from the United States, told ICOS they have seen adverts for rooms for an “open-minded woman” in an owner-occupied house.

According to the student, “it looked like the owner placed the ad”.

Harmon said: “Among a range of other serious issues, we are particularly concerned about the evidence of predators seeking sex in lieu of rent and are calling for urgent legislation to clamp down on this.”

Separate motions, one by Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin this year and another by Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan have sought to clamp down on this practice.

O’Callaghan’s bill is currently at the third stage of debate and has yet to be passed through the Dáil.

The Journal has seen similar adverts, seeking services in lieu of rent, from landlords offering rooms for a minimum of 20-hours of childcare in return. This was labelled “very unorthodox” by higher education minister Simon Harris.

Harmon said: “Ireland needs clear student accommodation and international education strategies that focus on ensuring that students who study here have safe, affordable places to live.

“We urge the Government to implement the recommendations in our report.’’