The social housing corporations are building new student accommodation at breakneck speed. According to the Minister, Stef Blok, the ambitious plans arising from the National Campaign for Student Housing are being achieved beyond expectations.
This summer EM joined up with Yournalism, a platform for investigative journalism, and ten other higher education media to conduct a survey into the student lodging market. The whole dossier is available here.
Ahead of schedule
The Minister for Housing, Stef Blok, told the Dutch House of Representatives that social student housing providers have built nearly fifteen thousand new homes for students since 2011. At the end of 2016, he expects that another 17,708 new homes will be available or under construction.
It had been agreed that there would be 16,000 new student homes at the end of next year. The Minister, Stef Blok, concluded “with justifiable pride” that construction is ahead of schedule.
Conundrums
This does not mean that students in each city are easily able to find a room. “We are going in the right direction and I am proud that we have been able to build so much, but there are still some conundrums,” says Ardin Mourik-Geluk, Director of Kences, the sector organisation for social student housing associations.
In Utrecht and Amsterdam it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. In other cities the extra accommodation mainly ensures that students do not have to wait quite as long as they did a few years ago.
The National Campaign for Student Housing was drawn up in 2011 to solve the urgent housing needs. Several organisations joined the campaign, including Kences, the Association of Universities for Applied Sciences, university association VSNU and the National Students Union.
Specific figures about growth in the number of student rooms in Rotterdam are not known, but housing has been and is being built here too. Consider for example the Hattagebouw, the Student Hotel and two new projects, Bright and De Nieuwe Admiraliteit.
