Student - August 25, 2011

Room shortage shoots up countrywide

The shortage of accommodation for students is rising steeply in other university towns, as well as in Wageningen. Kences, the organization for student housing providers, has sounded the alarm: 65 thousand more student units are needed between 2010 and 2015. 'We wouldn't be able to make it.'

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NRC Next today places the room shortage in university towns in focus. The waiting time for a room is three years in the inner city of Amsterdam, an average of 21 months in Utrecht, 20 months in Delft, and one and a half years in Leiden. Compared with these statistics, the waiting time for Wageningen students is not that bad. Last academic year, all first years on the waiting list found a room after eight months. This would not happen this year, says Idealis, the housing provider in Wageningen.
This academic year, 4.5 percent more youths than last year are pursuing a university study. This trend will continue in the coming years. As construction plans of student housing providers would not be able to catch up, extra steps need to be taken. To begin with, construction regulations which make it too costly to build student homes have to be relaxed. Municipalities should be more flexible about temporary student housing policies and allow emergency housing to remain for ten years instead of five. Moreover, universities and applied sciences universities should offer their land more cheaply for student housing projects, proposes Kences.