‘Construction of thousands of new student accommodations in jeopardy’

The planned construction of “several thousand student housing units” will be halted due to the government’s decision to freeze social rents in 2025 and 2026, student housing associations warn.

Kences, the umbrella organisation for social student housing providers, says it is “shocked” by the cabinet’s decision to freeze social rents for two years. “We support rent freezes for students,” Kences said in a press release (in Dutch), “but the downside is that we will be able to build fewer rooms and invest less in sustainability — measures that would actually improve the affordability of housing in the long term.”

According to Kences, there is currently a shortage of around 25,000 student housing units in the Netherlands. An initial survey among its members suggests that the construction of “at least several thousand student rooms” will not go ahead as a result of the rent freeze.

Slumlords

The Woonbond, a tenants’ advocacy organisation, also raised the alarm. According to the organisation, housing associations are receiving too little compensation for the rent freeze, even though the government has the financial means — as it is saving money on housing benefit now that some rents are not increasing. The cabinet is also said to be giving “plenty of leeway” to slumlords, for example by making fewer homes eligible for rent control.

Housing Protest

The National Student Union (LSVb) is equally outraged. “While rents for social student housing are being frozen, students who don’t live in these types of rooms are facing additional rent hikes, on top of the increases already announced.” The LSVb is calling on students to join the Housing Protest in Utrecht on 10 May.