The shortage of student housing has been a problem for years. Also for the coming academic year, the knowledge center for student housing Kences expects that there will be around 26,500 rooms too few for students, according to director Jolan de Bie.
Places in hostel
Utrecht University (UU) does not know how many students dropped out because they were unable to find accommodation. The number of foreign students coming to Utrecht this year is also not yet known. International students often enroll at several universities, so the number of enrollments can still change towards the start of the academic year. Last year, 2776 international students eventually started a study program at the UU. The university itself reserves 1,250 rooms especially for foreign students from housing providers, but that offer is already full, according to a spokeswoman. The UU has reserved 75 places at a Stayokay for students who let it matter to them and start the academic year without a room.
The Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam also sees “slightly more cancellations” in registrations for bachelor’s degree programmes. “However, we do not know whether this has to do with the previously issued warning to reconsider your studies at the VU as an international if you have not found a room by August 1,,” said a university spokeswoman. According to the spokeswoman, international students who did not find housing through the VU still receive an e-mail containing the same warning, according to the spokeswoman.
bon tip
International students who have registered at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have also been told that it is very difficult to find accommodation in the city. The 3000 rooms that the university has reserved for foreign students together with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences were already full before the summer. “We hope that students do not come on the spec,” says a spokeswoman. “Every year we see that students just try it, like: I’ll see. You really shouldn’t want that, because it won’t just work out. You really run the risk that you will have to sleep on the couch somewhere.”
The ASVA Student Union has so far received about fifty to sixty requests for help from foreign students who are unable to find a room in Amsterdam, says board member Job Vermaas. Together with other organizations, No room for us was founded last year, a platform where people can offer a room to a student in need.