07 Sep 2023 at 00:00 Update: 2 hours ago
The number of Dutch students living away from home has fallen from 53 percent in 2015 to 44 percent this year. This is a result of the growing shortage of student housing and the introduction of the loan system. And the situation may become even more alarming.
Since the introduction of the loan system, it has become more difficult for Dutch students to find accommodation. This appears from the Wednesday published National student housing monitor of the trade association Kences. 48 percent of students say the affordability of rooms is the main reason for staying at home.
In addition, it is difficult to find a room. This is partly because the proportion of international students has increased from 9 percent in 2015 to 16 percent now. “Although this group also feels pressure to find a room,” says Kences director Jolan de Bie. “As a solution, international students could often sleep together in a room.”
The monitor shows that the housing market for students is particularly tight in the cities of Amsterdam, Delft, Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Leiden, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Zwolle.
Reintroduction of basic grant causes pressure
One reason for this is that fewer people started studying in the 2022/2023 academic year. This is partly due to the reintroduction of the basic grant in the academic year 2023/2024. As a result, some students have made the choice to wait a year before studying. A second reason is the tightness of the labor market. This makes it easier for young people to work without a diploma.
The research does show that the shortage of student housing has decreased in the past year, after years of growth. This year, more than 23,000 student rooms were too few in the largest cities. Last year there were 27,000.
Concerns about permanent shortage
The shortage of rooms is expected to increase in the coming years. The reintroduction of the basic grant gives students more financial freedom. Students living away from home who are entitled to the performance-related grant will receive 439 euros per month this year. That is why the room shortage is expected to double by 2030, Kences reports.
Kences finds it worrying that fewer and fewer students are able to live in rooms. “We know that living in rooms contributes to the well-being and social-emotional development of students and young people,” says De Bie. “It is precisely in the young adult years that these skills are developed. If this does not happen, it is a permanent loss.”
2023-09-06 22:00:33
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