Student housing provider frustrated government blocking construction of 2,500 apartments

Student housing provider DUWO is upset the Ministry of Infrastructure has been blocking plans to build 2,500 new student apartments in Kronenburg, AT5 reported.

The apartments were to be constructed on the campus Uilenstede near Schiphol airport. Officials said they are concerned that the noise of flights passing over the building will be too loud for students.

Students who have already been living in the area said the noise from the planes is acceptable. "If it really bothers you, close the door; it's really not that bad," one resident said. "I think the housing shortage is worse than a few planes," another added.

The National Student Monitor showed that there had been a housing shortage of 6,600 rooms in Amsterdam alone this year. That number is expected to rise to 21,700 in seven years if more houses are not built to combat the housing shortage.

Each year more international students have been coming to Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands. and next year will likely not be any different. "We have international students who come to the Netherlands in the summer and sleep on the streets," Job Vermaas from the student union ASVA said.

"Even with the expected measures to regulate the influx of international students, the housing shortage remains apparent. The 2,500 new apartments are desperately needed," chair of the Duwo board Heleen de Vresse said. The government's move to block the apartments from being built goes against their claims to want to solve the housing shortage, De Vresse said. "The crisis requires to think in terms of possibilities and not limitations."