Government sets aside millions extra for student accommodation construction

The government is making tens of millions available for the construction of student accommodation. This is stated in a new ‘action plan’ intended to get housing construction moving.

A few weeks ago, it emerged that the national shortage of student accommodation is barely falling: it remains at around twenty thousand, announced student housing knowledge centre Kences.

Today, the minister for housing is presenting a list of measures to reduce that shortage. From 2029, the government will set aside 60 to 65 million euros annually for the construction of ‘non-self-contained homes’, such as student rooms. The figure is currently 25 million euros. These amounts are included in an action plan for housing construction.

Provinces and municipalities must also ensure that more student rooms are built. They must require 60 per cent of new student housing to consist of non-self-contained homes.

Lower taxes

Housing associations have been paying corporation tax since 2006. This now costs them almost a billion euros. The tax is a thorn in the side of the housing associations: all the money siphoned off by the government cannot be invested in new homes.

The government is not scrapping the tax yet, but it is offering the housing associations some relief through another measure: they will be allowed to deduct more interest from their taxes. This could save them several hundred million euros.

Concrete construction plans

The action plan says nothing about the intention to build more housing on the campuses of universities and universities of applied sciences. In a recent response to questions from members of parliament from the CDA about student housing, the minister said she would return to this later this year.

However, she claims in her responses that there are ‘definitive construction plans’ for 17 thousand student homes in the nineteen largest student cities. There are also said to be ‘preliminary construction plans’ for almost 18 thousand more homes.

This does not mean that the shortage of 20 thousand student homes will then have been resolved, as the director of Kences explained at the beginning of this month. Due to the housing shortage, many young people have given up looking. Once homes become available, they may still start looking for a room of their own, meaning the shortage could rise again.