The conference in the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague was about student housing. Still, everyone looked happy. That was because the eleven stage guests had just signed their signatures under the National action plan Student Housing 2022-2030.
Jack de Vries had the widest smile. What was that old CDA spin doctor secretary of state doing these days? Something in higher education? In any case, the ink was literally not yet dry before De Vries made a subtle attack. To Marja van Bijsterveldt. Now mayor of Delft, I already knew that much.
De Vries appealed to municipalities “not to immediately make everything impossible again with rules, such as against chambering”. Ah, so something in construction. Google confirmed it: since last year Jack has been the happy chairman of Vastgoed Belang. Van Bijsterveldt defended the strict rules against chambering, “especially in neighborhoods with families who get up at seven.” She prefers to center students in campuses.
But wait a minute. Hadn’t they signed a long-term plan for this three seconds ago? I searched the forty pages. But I only found phrases like: ‘We are going to investigate whether we can better regulate chambering.’ Municipalities ‘stimulate landlady-like constructions’.
So nothing has been agreed! Alright, then it’s about main points. On to the core issue then. The immense international influx, 75 percent responsible for the expected increase.
The UvA announced a quota for foreign students on Monday. A day later, during question time, it turned out that this was not possible at all. And our Action Plan is also unrelenting. This is not allowed at all for European students (73 percent). Regrettably. But what emergency care does this plan provide? OCW ‘examines’ the possibilities for capacity limitation. And higher education institutions are ‘exploring additional possibilities’.
Ministers Hugo de Jonge (Living) and Robbert Dijkgraaf (Education) were not physically present, but spoke from screens. Both equally happy. A room is more than square meters, according to Dijkgraaf. It is the place for new experiences and friendships. So he was “happy with this action plan.” De Jonge shared memories of “a good time in a bad neighborhood” where he and a friend “learned to run a household”.
In short, justified pleas against the trend of independent residential units. The market is eager to build it, because of the rent allowance. Result: more individualistic students, who have forgotten how to live together. How will our happy action plan reverse that trend over the next eight years? Home Affairs ‘is investigating the possibilities of ensuring a more level playing field.’
The motto of this conference was: ‘Students can’t live in bullshit either.’ From 2030, my children will reach student age. Do I believe this action plan will give them a roof? Maybe if I just keep looking very happy.
Christian Weijts writes a column here every Friday.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of September 9, 2022