The limited development of purpose-built student accommodation in recent years has led to a deficit of at least 38,900 bed spaces in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway at the end of 2025, according to a report by Sherry FitzGerald.
The estate agent found that this shortfall increases to 53,000 if a shorter commutable distance for students attending third-level in Dublin is taken into account.
At the end of 2025, the number of purpose-built student accommodation bed spaces totalled 47,600.
Meanwhile, the number of full-time students in HEA-registered third-level institutes for the 2024/2025 academic year stood at 215,585.
The research by Sherry FitzGerald estimates that Dublin faces the most acute pressure, with a student to bed space ratio of 2.7 based on the assumption that all students originating outside of Dublin require accommodation.
If the assumed commutable distance is extended to include counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, this ratio falls to 2.0.
Supply shortages are also evident outside of Dublin, Sherry FitzGerald's figures show. Student to bed ratios for the South-West, Mid-West and West regions ranged from 1.3 to 2.5 at the end of last year.
"In the past few years, elevated construction and borrowing costs impacted the viability of PBSA developments, which coupled with uncertainty, reduced development activity at a time when student numbers were growing," said Sherry FitzGerald's senior economist Jean Behan.
This created "a growing divergence" between the demand and supply and "placed additional pressures on the private rental market," Mr Behan added.
According to the estate agent's forecast, these shortages are set to persist in the medium term, with approximately 2,600 student beds under construction across the State at the end of the year.
Although planning permission has been granted for approximately 13,800 beds, more than a third of those are in developments that have been put on hold.
Sherry Fitzgerald called this "concerning" considering the growing demand for accommodation.
Based on the population figures by the Central Statistics Office, the estate agent's analysts predict that demand for additional bed spaces in the Dublin, South-West, Mid-West and West regions could increase further by between 9,900 and 11,700 by 2030.
