How one Cavan student has overcome the housing crisis
A University of Limerick student, who lives in Cavan, has swapped paying for student accommodation and opted to live in his Ford Transit van.
The decision Conor Davidson made at the start of his second year has meant he paid a total of €4,000 for his three-year stay near the campus grounds, just outside Limerick city. The money includes the cost of the van and renovations to make it liveable.
“That’s pretty much unheard of,” he said, describing how some of his college mates pay €800 per month. Another issue he faced was he “couldn’t find” accommodation easily.
“It gets easier as you get along because obviously you make more friends. Right now, I could find a house, but when you’re back in first year and you don’t know anyone, it’s very difficult. Unless you know people in Limerick, I don’t know how you’re going to get a house.”
Conor, who lives in Cavan Town, renovated his van because he found rent was “too high” and he didn’t want to live in digs, where he would have to commute back to Cavan on the weekends via public transport.
“If you’re going by bus, you have to go to Dublin, and then Dublin to Cavan. You can go the Athlone way but that takes way too long,” Conor told the Celt.
During his first year of studies, he forked out for digs at a cost of €180 per week, however this did not include weekend stays, which he described as a “nightmare”.
“In second year, I just decided to get a van,” he explained.
Everything he needs
The 22 year old has “everything” he needs; solar panels, a sleeping bag and bed, a heater, a fridge, electricity, a cooker, a carbon monoxide alarm, and a vent. His van is parked close to the college, allowing him to use college facilities for everything else.
“All I do in the van is eat food and sleep. My course is pretty full-on so I am mostly in the college.”
He leaves the university grounds at midnight when the library closes, and found he wasn’t able to “keep that up” while commuting. Meanwhile, he feared some rules imposed by providers of digs didn’t suit his schedule.
“What if the next digs’ landlord says you have to be home by 12 o’clock?”
While the chemical engineering student is saving by living in his van, there are some downsides. Before installing the vent, the van developed mould but that issue has since been resolved.
He says “most” student accommodation “has mould anyway”, and laughs: “At least I can control it.”
Meanwhile, his van is parked in a popular estate in which many students live. The night before the Celt called, he woke up to people playing soccer outside at 1am. At Halloween, fireworks meant he didn’t get much sleep, while people were also “banging on the side of the van”.
“It’s mental but, to be fair, I think most people know I live in the van now,” he said.
Living in a van is a “popular” choice in New Zealand, which is where Conor grew up before moving to Cavan.
“I think what I was doing in first year was much crazier than living in a van. Living in the van is a lot simpler than commuting back to Cavan every weekend.”
Conor recalled how he would arrive back to the Breffni County at around 1am, sleep on Saturday and go back to college on Sunday.
The journey would take anything from six to nine hours one way depending on bus schedules.
Is this the college experience Conor expected?
He laughs: “I didn’t expect it [accommodation] to be like that.”
The former Virginia College student admits: “I didn’t quite understand how hard it is to get accommodation. I feel bad for the first years honestly, everyone else is grand because you can find a house but especially if you are commuting to the university and don’t know anyone. That’s the really hard part, and I feel like a lot of people drop out.”
Accommodation currently available for summer 2026 and the next academic year in the area where Conor has parked his van is on the rental market for €820 per month.
Meanwhile, a look at the University of Limerick’s own accommodation fees for the next academic year (August 30, 2026 to May 19, 2027) shows the cheapest option is €5, 230.