Students in Rotterdam spend 52 per cent of their income on rent each month. This was evident from a survey conducted by Yournalism and Erasmus Magazine among almost one thousand students, including 124 from Rotterdam.
In Enschede students have to cough up a slightly smaller part of their income to be able to pay for their accommodation: 46 per cent. Those in Nijmegen indicate that they spend slightly more on rent: 55 per cent of their income. The percentage of income spent on rent by students in Rotterdam is above the national average of 50 per cent.
Private rooms a little cheaper
Rental prices in the student accommodation market in Rotterdam appear to be fairly average. This is evident from a thorough analysis of student accommodation offered this summer by housing corporation websites and Kamernet.nl. A student in Rotterdam who rents accommodation from a housing corporation pays 22.06 euros per square metre. In the private sector in Rotterdam you pay slightly less: 21.27 euros per square metre.
By contrast: living in Wageningen or Enschede is quite a bit cheaper. Those in Wageningen pay only 17.90 euros per square metre for housing corporation accommodation, while in Enschede cheap rooms can be found through Kamernet.nl. There you pay on average 17.99 euros per square metre for a private room. Amsterdam, however, is in a class of its own. At 24.89 euros, the average square metre price quoted by housing corporations is not that bad. But if you want to rent private rooms in the capital city it will cost you a lot of money and you will have to come up with 34.32 euros per square metre.
During the summer, Yournalism, the crowdfunding platform for research journalism and media from eleven universities and universities of applied sciences throughout the Netherlands, including EM, investigated the student room market. Part of that investigation involved an extensive analysis of the accommodation on offer on Kamernet.nl and of student accommodation on housing corporation websites, where the average rental price per square metre comes from. In addition, we conducted a survey among almost one thousand students, including 124 from Rotterdam, which included a question about the percentage of their income they spend on rent.