connect with us
loader

Student Unions Warn of Housing Shortage Consequences

Student unions from a handful of Dutch universities have issued a gross warning to scholars thinking keen as mustard to pursue their higher education in the Netherlands as the campus crisis continues and several students face the misfortune of losing accommodations.

The surged rage among students, stimulated by homelessness, has caused them to warn students to stay away from the Netherlands. Dutch cities are facing a severe shortage of student housing, especially in the post-pandemic period. The results are terrible as students are forced to defer their studies for an entire year. The homelessness situation came to a head last autumn when several scholars had to start their academic years without proper accommodation. The figures revealed from a study showed that the nation was short over 26,000 homes. 

Read more about: International Students Make up 40% of First Years

The situation underwent little progress even a year later and has consistently remained dire across several student-friendly cities. Consequently, the University of Amsterdam sent an email warning international students that they must postpone moving to the Netherlands if they cannot find homes. 

Student Unions Warn of Housing Shortage Consequences
Enroll Now

The accommodation services of UvA clearly expressed that students' ranking on their preferred university's waiting list will not result in room offers due to the stoppage of the room allocation process. Therefore, and since UvA's services will not be able to assist students with proper living spaces, students must cancel their housing applications. Universities have issued similar requests in Groningen, Utrecht, and Maastricht, requesting international students to avoid the mentioned cities unless further. 

The unavailability of accommodation services has caused students to pay exorbitant room rent. Amsterdam's representative of the student union, the ASVA, have made it abundantly clear that students hoping to study in the country will either face a shortage of rooms or be needed to pay extraordinarily high rents to start their course.

ASVA has additionally mentioned that they still have to provide rooms to around 2300 international students, meaning they are at enormous risk of running out of accommodations. Another significant student representative group, the SRVU, have echoed UvA's message calling on scholars to move out of the Dutch cities in case they haven't secured any accommodation. 

Read more about : The Netherlands Rank in the Top 10 Student Destinations

SRVU and ASVA are requesting the higher education universities and the Dutch government to impose stringent policies for students' admission. They are concerned about limiting English-taught studies to curb the number of applications. 

  • Namarta Virmani
  • December 6,2022
Related blogs
Need Help? Chat Now