More students living in student housing

More students living in student housing

 

 

Last year, for the first time since 2016, more university students went to live in student rooms. In 2020, almost 26 thousand students entered the student housing market, whereas in the three preceding years the number was around 22 thousand.

 

This is shown in research (in Dutch) by Statistics Netherlands (CBS). According to the CBS, the increase is related to the rising number of university enrolments, which is mainly caused by the high success rate in Dutch secondary education.

 

Last year, almost one hundred percent of pre-university secondary school graduates obtained their diploma. Moreover, some of them decided not to travel abroad because of the corona crisis and to study in the Netherlands.

 

However, the high enrolment rate at universities does not explain everything: “The number of students who left home to live on their own in a university town increased not only in absolute, but also in relative terms”, the researchers conclude.

 

Delft

In Amsterdam, in particular, students went to live in student rooms more often; their number increased by 38 percent. Utrecht follows closely behind with a 31 percent increase. Delft also saw an increase, from 1700 students in 2019 to 2100 students in 2020.

 

 

The downward trend in the number of students living in student housing is thus broken this year. According to the CBS, the reason why fewer students went to live on their own in the past was the introduction of the study loan system in 2015. This made living in student housing financially unattractive. (HOP, Josefine van Enk)