The already great housing shortage among students will only grow further. This is reported by Trouw on the basis of figures from the Kences knowledge centre, which annually keeps track of the number of student houses. Last autumn there was a shortage of housing for 22.000 students, according to the National Student Housing Monitor. Kences director Jolan de Bie expects the shortage to rise to at least 50.000 in the 2024-2025 academic year.
De Bie bases this on new forecasts from the Ministry of Education from last spring, she tells the newspaper. It's expected that in that academic year there will be 103.000 more students at the colleges and universities than predicted. "About half of the students live away from home," says de Bie.
Foreign students
By 2024, the aim is to add 18.000 new student residences. "Only if they are acually going to build the rooms the shortage can be limited to 50.000, even in the quiet time of the year," says de Bie. The shortage is greatest at the start of the academic year: "Many new students look for accommodation then, but many graduates have not left yet."
Foreign students also contribute significantly tot the shortage. Kences expects that European students will choose the Netherlands more often, because it is harder for them to study in the United Kingdom due to Brexit. Some universities are even warning freshmen from other countries to look elsewhere if they haven't found a place to stay yet.
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