The student scramble

Has the rising property market closed the window of opportunity for developers of student accommodation? Naomi Powell reports.

A lesson in letting: students relying on renting privately are facing the toughest market in a decade

Rachel Wullems arrived at Trinity College Dublin last week with links to 50 local property listings carefully bookmarked in her computer.

Back in Madrid, she'd heard there were ''more people than houses in Dublin, but it wasn't until she arrived in the city that the full extent of the shortage sank in.

''I opened my computer and every place I'd found was gone, said Wullems, 21, who is spending her Erasmus year at ...