Stef Blok, the Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector, does not wish to get involved in the system allowing students to rent rooms from The Student Hotel. He is happy to leave the assessment of the organisation’s lease contracts to a judge, he said in response to questions raised in the Lower House by the CDA party.
National Student Union LSVb claimed in September that The Student Hotel violates students’ rights by overcharging them and not heeding rent control regulations.
LSVb president Jarmo Berkhout wants the municipal governments to intervene, but was hoping politicians at the national level would contribute to this process. However, according to Mr Blok, the Minister for Housing, this is not likely to happen.
'They must judge for themselves'
Blok wrote that it is up to the municipal authorities to judge for themselves whether the hotel chain can help in providing students with temporary accommodation, and how much to charge for the rooms. “The national government will not act as an enforcer in such matters.” The Minister will not look into any perceived rent control issues, either, claiming that this is for a judge to decide.
As far as Mr Blok is concerned, the organisation’s room-rental method is not so bad. In his reply he refers to the Rotterdam Student Hotel, where Erasmus University College students are free to focus on their studies “without a care in the world”.
