{"id":131586,"date":"2021-10-19T17:05:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T15:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=131586"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:56","slug":"why-these-students-took-part-in-the-woonopstand-demo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/10\/19\/why-these-students-took-part-in-the-woonopstand-demo\/","title":{"rendered":"Why these students took part in the Woonopstand demo"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, thousands of people, including many EUR students, gathered on Afrikaanderplein to demand a radically different housing policy. They are worried about the lack of accommodation in Rotterdam. \u201cI would love to carry on living in Rotterdam my whole life, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to afford it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A history student holds up her protest sign during the march after the Woonopstand demonstration.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWouter Sterrenburg<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Bureaucratic nightmare<\/h2>
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Deniz<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWouter Sterrenburg<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Erasmus University College student Deniz has noticed just how difficult it is for international students to find accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am here because I am frustrated by the injustice in the housing market. The unfair treatment of vulnerable groups is close to my heart. But as an international student, I have also found it difficult to find somewhere to live. It took me months to find somewhere when I had to leave EUC accommodation. Landlords only wanted expats and they imposed either very high income requirements or absurd deposits. I finally found a place just one day before I was due to leave my other home. It was hugely stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish the university college had been more transparant in advance about the crisis in the Dutch housing market and would offer better support in relation to accommodation. For example, foreign students face a bureaucratic nightmare when it comes to getting housing benefit. I was sent from pillar to post. I was supposed to be entitled to it in my current room, but no one can explain to me why I can\u2019t receive it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentrification boundary<\/h2>
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Owen<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

History student Owen lives in Zuid and is seeing his neighbourhood turn into a yuppie neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI currently live on the Beijerlandselaan and I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m being driven out by gentrification. It\u2019s already started where we are now, in the Afrikaanderwijk. I\u2019m concerned that gentrification boundary will advance even further, that the whole neighbourhood will be taken over by yuppies, causing the character of Zuid to disappear and all the original residents to be forced out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to carry on living in Rotterdam my whole life, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to afford it anymore. I wouldn\u2019t want to have to move to places like Ridderkerk or Vlaardingen.\u201d<\/p>\n

800 euros for six square metres<\/h2>
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Milena<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Mylena (Philosophy) is hoping that not all of Rotterdam will be filled with expensive penthouses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am taking part in Woonopstand because I think that everyone deserves a roof over their heads. Friends from my previous course, International Business Administration, can pay as much as 800 euros for a room measuring six square metres, while others are forced to sleep on their friends\u2019 sofas. Take a place like The Student Hotel: it\u2019s grossly overpriced for what you get. I\u2019ve noticed the problems are ever more prevalent among students and it\u2019s affecting all sections of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very lucky to have got a room through Stadswonen, but I\u2019m going to have to move out soon because as I\u2019m probably going to do a master degree in Amsterdam. I\u2019m dreading trying for a room there because the odds are already stacked against me. So I\u2019m hoping for a rent cap and more social housing. And I hope that not everywhere in Rotterdam will be crammed full with expensive penthouses, which is how things are looking at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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