Student rooms 8% more expensive than last year
Student housing prices rose by 8 percent compared to last year, according to Kamernet, one of the country's largest student housing search websites. As of July, the average monthly rent for a student room is 715 euros.
Kamernet's CEO, Djordy Seelmann, stated that private landlords face "significant uncertainty." This can be attributed to the strictly regulated housing market in the Netherlands and the reduction of tax benefits for landlords. Due to this uncertainty, private landlords are increasingly selling their properties, even as the demand for rooms remains consistently high, Seelmann explained. Approximately 30,000 student rooms were listed on Kamernet in 2022.
The cities of Amsterdam, Groningen, and Rotterdam have the highest demand for student housing. However, other university cities like Utrecht, Delft, The Hague, Eindhoven, Enschede, Nijmegen, and Leiden are catching up quickly, according to Kamernet.
It is worth noting that students can again receive a basic grant this academic year. This possibly led to more students enrolling in courses and therefore currently looking for housing.
In response to the situation, the national student union LSVb commented that the "only way" to increase the availability of affordable student rooms is to have housing corporations build more. Last autumn, the Cabinet launched the National Action Plan for Student Housing, aiming to add 60,000 additional student homes by 2030. However, LSVb anticipates that this number will fall short of the actual need.
Outgoing Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf recently proposed a law to limit further internationalization in higher education. He believes that one of the repercussions of attracting more international students is the increasing shortage of student rooms.