The student housing shortage has increased by 20 percent in the past year. it turns out From the National Student Housing MonitorPublished annually by the knowledge platform Kences. In total, there are now 26,500 very few homes.

The deficit is expected to increase significantly. In the next eight years, it is estimated that there will be another 57,000 students who will want to live in rooms. However, the number of houses being built for them is not enough. Until 2025, an additional 16,500 student housing will be built.

The shortage is largely due to the growing number of international students in the Netherlands. The coronavirus pandemic also contributed to the strong increase this year. Because of the lockdown and a lack of physical education, many students postponed leaving home last year. This is why an extra number of students came this school year who wanted a room.

Many students choose not to do their favorite course because it is too far from the parents’ home and the opportunity to have a small room. Director Golan DB from Kinsz: “It means wasting motivation and talent.”

high rents

An additional problem is the rental price. It consumes an increasing share of the student’s income. Students currently spend an average of 46 percent of their income on rent. Two years ago it was 43%. According to Keynes, that increase would have been greater had rents not been frozen due to the Corona crisis.

Kinsz also warns that there is a trend in the type of student housing that is being built. Independent studios are much more popular among property developers than rooms are these days. De Bie: “Because there is a lot of loneliness among students, we see this as a highly undesirable trend. It is better for students’ welfare and social development to live together in rooms.”

emergency shelter

In many student cities, the housing shortage became very acute at the start of the school year. Hundreds of students had to go to emergency shelters because they could not find a room. in Groningen Students to occupy the university building In September to protest the housing shortage.

There are still 400 students in Groningen who do not have permanent accommodation, says the working group Our Student Shelter. There are 200 students in Enschede.