The emergency shelter for students who do not yet have a room is full. Of the 120 rooms, 114 are booked and the remaining six reserved.
The mostly international students pay 390 euros per month for renting a room in an old apartment building on Plutolaan. The so-called peak reception is the result of a collaboration between the municipality, the University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences and the Student Housing Foundation (SSH).
RUG asks for a ‘deposit’ when international students register
Groningen has approximately 77,000 students, 12,000 come from abroad. The internationalization of higher education has been causing headaches for municipalities, universities of applied sciences and especially universities for years. Not everyone succeeds in finding a room and this causes problems every year to find accommodation for everyone.
The RUG and the Hanze are now warning in advance that it is not wise to come to Groningen on spec if you have not been able to find a room. The RUG has also started to ask international students for a kind of deposit – a so-called ‘fee’ – of one hundred euros when they register. They will receive this back when they register definitively and also if they eventually decide to choose another university. “Other universities have been doing this for years,” explains a spokesperson. ,,We noticed that students were ‘shopping’ and applying to several universities. With the fee, we hope that they take these registrations more seriously.”
More attention needed for room shortage for Dutch students
Whether this is the solution remains to be seen, but the Groninger Studentenbond has the impression that the housing shortage is less high this year than in other years. “Although many students still have a lot of water on their lips and a roof over your head does not mean that it is a good-quality home,” says a spokesperson. “This also says nothing about the amount of the rent or how you are treated. Moreover, since last week we have been getting a message from Dutch students that they cannot find a room.”
“There is generally less attention for this group, because they often commute or rely on their own network. But of course that option is not available to everyone. We also hear here and there from non-EU students, who were aware of the advice not to come to Groningen after August 1, that they received their visa so late that searching much earlier is not an option for them .”