Student ensuite bathrooms are a “luxury” and a "colossal” waste of money in a housing crisis, a builder has argued. 

Higher Education Minister James Lawless has said building an ensuite for every single student bedroom seems “quite wasteful” and that the Government wanted to curtail the practice. 

On Lunchtime Live, builder Pete Finn said he agreed on the grounds that communal bathrooms are much better value. 

 “There's just no doubt about it, if you're only putting in a communal bathroom facility, it's going to be much more cost effective than giving individual ensuites to every single bedroom,” he explained. 

“In my opinion, student accommodation is a very, very important facility for people. 

“But does every student need an ensuite? Absolutely not. The cost involved in that would be colossal.”

Trinity College, Dublin. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Mr Finn added that even the cheapest of ensuites would cost €5,000, with many models costing significantly more. 

“It's not just the actual fit out itself, it's all the pipework that goes into it,” he said. 

“If you're going to put in multiple bathrooms, it's a huge network of pipework that has to go through a building. 

“If you're retrofitting an existing building, that costs us even more again.”

Housing crisis

Another issue is housing density, with ensuites taking up space that could be used for much needed additional bedrooms. 

“That's where you're relying on a good architect to make the best use of a space,” he said. 

“But there's just no doubt about it… So, in my opinion, communal is absolutely the way to go.”

Mr Finn continued that there is “huge shortage of accommodation” and the housing crisis is not just impacting students.  

“It makes much more sense - even if you're squeezing in five to 10 more units into each accommodation area - it's well worth doing,” he said. 

“There's no need for an individual [ensuite]; we have to get over ourselves. 

“Yes, we've progressed as humans and… we all like our luxuries, but having an individual ensuite, in my opinion, would be a luxury.”

Main image: An ensuite bathroom. Picture by: Alamy.com.