{"id":6826,"date":"2015-09-14T15:55:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T13:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=39453&lang=en"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:22","slug":"the-extractor-hood-was-broken-for-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/09\/14\/the-extractor-hood-was-broken-for-five-years\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The extractor hood was broken for five years\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Rotterdam does not really have a housing crisis. Yet over a quarter of the students are (very) dissatisfied with their landlord. Where Crystle Cairo lives, they have waited five years for the extractor hood to be repaired.<\/p>\n

Master student in Law, Crystle Cairo (20), had to wait three years for housing association Stadswonen to repair the extractor hood in her student house. \u201cIn all, the thing was broken for five years, because the student who had my room before me had waited for two years before that. Two months ago, the extractor hood was finally repaired. I\u2019d called about it on over ten occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In hot weather, the problem wasn\u2019t so bad. Then Cairo could just open a window to get rid of any cooking smells. \u201cBut when it was very cold or raining, it wasn\u2019t a good idea to deep fry something or cook a curry because the smell would linger for hours.\u201d Stadswonen probably didn\u2019t think the problem was very serious, Cairo thinks. \u201cOtherwise, they\u2019d surely have mended it sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor ventilation<\/h3>

This isn\u2019t the only problem that the law student has had with the student housing association. \u201cThe ventilation here is bad anyway, making our rooms boiling hot in the summer months. You can\u2019t sleep here when it\u2019s 35 degrees. But they didn\u2019t think sun blinds were necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, the walls in the corridor are stained and the carpet is \u2018frayed\u2019. \u201cIt\u2019s been like that for years. They only mend acute problems like a blown fuse in the kitchen quickly. In that case, they\u2019ll even send someone over at the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The house is just getting shabbier<\/h3>

Cairo feels that landlords should spend more money on tackling deferred maintenance. \u201cWhen I started my studies, I paid 360 euros in rent. Now it\u2019s 400 euros. If that extra money was put into improving the building, I wouldn\u2019t mind paying more. But the building is just getting shabbier, not nicer.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

\n\t\t

This summer EM <\/em>joined up with Yournalism<\/em>, a platform for research journalism, and ten other higher education media to conduct a survey into the student lodging market. The whole dossier is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t