House of Representatives wants more shared accommodation for students

The cabinet must ensure that more shared accommodations for students will be built, says the House of Representatives. Two motions on the matter were passed almost unanimously.

There has long been concern that student rooms are being displaced by studios. Because studios have their own kitchen, shower and toilet, landlords can charge higher rents. Students can then offset the higher rent with housing allowance, which is only available to self-contained housing.

At the same time, the housing shortage among students remains high and living with flatmates can also be pleasant. D66 therefore calls on the cabinet to make concrete agreements ‘on the numbers of non-self-contained units for students to be realised’. The motion was co-signed by CDA and PRO.

Incentive

D66 and PRO also submitted a second motion. Currently there is ‘no strong incentive’ for the construction of non-self-contained units, the motion states, while this type of housing can accommodate more people and it is also good for the mental health of residents.

They therefore ask the cabinet to investigate how building these units can be made more attractive. Both motions were adopted almost unanimously on Tuesday. Only JA21 voted against.

Peter Boelhouwer, professor of Housing Systems at TU Delft, said earlier that the government had made a ‘policy mistake’. According to him there were two options: either abolish the housing allowance for studios (‘but that would put students in a difficult situation’) or extend the housing allowance to rooms as well. Whether the cabinet will move in that direction remains to be seen.