Mayo students struggling to source accommodation while scam warning also issued

Students are being forced to defer courses due to the student accommodation crisis in Castlebar.

The students union is urging anyone with accomodation in Mayo to consider renting a room to a student.

"I would ask anyone with a spare room to have a think about renting to students and to give us a call for any information on doing so,” said Sarah Mohan, President of the ATU Students Union.

ATU Mayo students are struggling to source accomodation as the new term fast approaches.

"It is a huge issue in the county as we have students looking for digs anywhere and everywhere.

"They have no choice but to travel an hour by bus from one town out to Castlebar so you can really see the effects across the whole county,” said Ms Mohan.

Meanwhile, Gardaí have warned students to be cautious of rental scams ahead of the new academic year.

They said around 33% of accommodation fraud reports happen between August and September.

Students are targeted by scams where people pose as landlords offering accommodation that may be misleading or that does not exist.

Figures from gardaí also show that 34% of accommodation fraud victims are under the age of 25 and 66% of victims are under 33.

 False websites are increasingly common as well as websites that appear as replicas of real letting platforms. Scammers also use social media to target students, gardaí said.