{"id":2502,"date":"2026-07-29T05:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2502"},"modified":"2026-07-29T05:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T04:27:11","slug":"delsu-housing-nightmare-students-priced-out-as-rent-reach-breaking-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2502","title":{"rendered":"DELSU Housing Nightmare: Students Priced Out As Rent Reach Breaking Point"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Diana Nwanze<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of students of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, are struggling to secure affordable accommodation as a widening shortage of hostel spaces continues to drive rental costs to alarming levels in communities surrounding the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an estimated student population of over 35,000 across its campuses and official hostels accommodating only about 2,000 students, more than 33,000 students depend on privately owned lodges in areas such as Campus 2, Campus 3 and Police Station Road, where rents have risen sharply in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growing housing crisis has placed a significant financial burden on students and their families, forcing many to make difficult choices between paying exorbitant rents or living farther from campus at the expense of additional transportation costs and security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Goodnews, a second-year Science Laboratory Technology (Biochemistry) student, said she currently pays \u20a6350,000 annually for a basic bedsitter apartment near Campus 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Last session, this same room cost \u20a6200,000,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When I complained about the increase, the caretaker told me that if I couldn’t pay, other students were ready to take the room.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that while cheaper accommodation is available in areas such as Urhuoka, students often spend the savings on transportation and face security concerns when returning from late lectures or study sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intense demand for accommodation close to the university has also resulted in lodges with inadequate water supply, unstable electricity and poor security remaining fully occupied because of their proximity to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landlords, however, insist that the rising cost of rent reflects prevailing economic realities rather than an attempt to exploit students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A property owner near Campus 2, Mrs. Laurence Fakunde, attributed the increase to soaring construction and maintenance costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Many people believe landlords are simply making excessive profits,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But the prices of cement, plumbing materials, electrical wiring and labour have increased significantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Building and maintaining student hostels is far more expensive than it was a decade ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that developers also contend with high loan interest rates and the rising cost of providing essential services such as boreholes and backup power during electricity outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A caretaker, Mr. Smith, also blamed the surge in rental prices on the increasing value of land around the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Land close to the university now sells for millions of naira,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When investors acquire land at those prices and construct buildings with today’s cost of materials, charging low rents becomes difficult.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accommodation shortage has attracted the attention of both the university management and the Delta State Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Delta State Executive Council recently approved funding guidelines aimed at expanding hostel facilities across state-owned tertiary institutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DELSU management, under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Professor Samuel Asagba, has also announced plans to increase on-campus accommodation through Public-Private Partnerships, including a proposed 1,000-bed hostel currently under review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these proposed interventions, many students remain uncertain about the future, saying the soaring cost of accommodation continues to threaten their access to affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless additional hostel facilities are provided and broader economic conditions improve, thousands of DELSU students are likely to remain trapped between unaffordable rents near campus and the financial and security challenges of living farther away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Diana Nwanze Thousands of students of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, are struggling to secure affordable accommodation as a widening shortage of hostel spaces continues to drive rental costs to alarming levels in communities surrounding the institution. With an estimated student population of over 35,000 across its campuses and official hostels accommodating only about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[31,25,37],"class_list":["post-2502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","tag-abraka","tag-delsu","tag-housing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2504,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2502\/revisions\/2504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}