{"id":178333,"date":"2025-04-24T12:04:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=178333"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:47","slug":"construction-of-thousands-of-student-rooms-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/04\/24\/construction-of-thousands-of-student-rooms-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Construction of thousands of student rooms at risk’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The freeze on social rents in 2025 and 2026 means that the construction of ‘several thousand student houses’ will not go ahead, warn student housing providers.<\/p>\n

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Kences, the umbrella organisation for social student housing providers, is \u2018astonished\u2019 by the cabinet\u2019s decision to not increase social rents for two years. \u201cWe support a rent freeze for students\u201d, Kences writes in a press release, \u2018but the downside is that we can build fewer rooms and make less progress on sustainability, which would, of course, contribute to the affordability of living costs\u2019.<\/p>\n

According to Kences, there is currently a shortage of around 25,000 student homes in the Netherlands. An initial assessment among Kences members indicates that the construction of \u2018certainly several thousand student homes\u2019 cannot proceed due to the rent freeze.<\/p>\n

Landlords<\/h2>

The Woonbond is also sounding the alarm. According to the tenants\u2019 advocacy group, housing corporations are receiving insufficient compensation for the rent freeze, while the cabinet has the means to do so: it is spending less on housing benefits now that part of the rents is not increasing. Moreover, the cabinet is said to be giving \u2018all the space\u2019 to landlords, for example, by allowing fewer homes to qualify for rent price protection.<\/p>\n

Housing protest<\/h2>

The National Student Union is also angry about this last point. \u201cWhile the rent for social rental rooms is frozen, students who do not live in social rental rooms will face additional rent increases on top of what has already been announced.\u201d The LSVb is urging students to participate in the Housing Protest on 10 May in Utrecht.<\/p>\n\n\t

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