In 2016, over 6,000 students checked their room rent on the site of the Dutch Student Union (LSVb). This is a far higher number than the previous year, when only 2,700 students filled in the questionnaire.
Nearly three out of every four students who completed the LSVb rent check pay more than allowed on the basis of the so-called points system. On average, the students pay 343 euros per month, not including gas, light and other utilities. This is 55 euros higher than the amount prescribed by this scoring system.
In Rotterdam, around two out of three students pay too much rent according to the check. The average size of the rooms rented by the 215 Rotterdam students who completed the 2016 survey is just over 19 square metres. The point-based rent for this average room is 333 euros. The average rent that they actually pay is 369 euros – i.e. 36 euros over the legal maximum.
LSVb has collected data for a total of 17 student centres. Amsterdam is the most expensive city: 80 percent of the Amsterdam students who did the rent check overpay – on average 115 euros per month. In 2015 the room rents in Wageningen still complied neatly with the points system. On average, students there currently overpay by 40 euros.
Unaffordable
Based on these figures, LSVb claims that studying could become prohibitively expensive as a result of high room rents. “That is why it’s high time for the government to intervene – and for students to be adequately informed about their rights.”
Students can check their room rent on the LSVb website by completing a questionnaire. The maximum monthly rent for a room is calculated on the basis of a legally prescribed scoring system.
Between 8 and 17 May, LSVb will be visiting eight Dutch student towns to inform local students about their tenants’ rights.
