Student associations are calling on the governing political parties to significantly increase the number of student rooms. They are also arguing for more shared student housing.
Lisanne Fung Fen Chung and Jozua Heule (front, second and third from the right) present 'the letter' to MPs. (Photo: ORAS/STIP)
On Tuesday ORAS, the Student Council, STIP, municipal council party, and the Landelijke Kamer van Verenigingen (LKvV, national chamber of student associations) handed over a letter to Higher Education Committee Members of Parliament and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
In the letter that they sent to the party leaders of the national political parties in December, they requested the number of student rooms to be increased by 60,000 affordable student housing units by 2030. Of these, at least half should not be self-contained – so rooms in student houses with shared amenities such as bathrooms, living rooms and kitchens.
Studios
Research shows that shared housing has a positive effect on students’ well-being. “Apart from that, it’s a lot cheaper,” explains Jozua Heule, a Student Council member (ORAS). “You use the space more efficiently by sharing the kitchen and sanitary facilities.”
Despite this, the number of studios have mushroomed over the last few years, including in Delft. “Building these kinds of self-contained living spaces is financially attractive for developers,” says STIP Council member Lisanne Fung Fen Chung. “They can ask higher rents than for student housing with shared amenities.”
To make the building of shared housing more attractive, the people behind the letter argue for the reintroduction of a rent allowance scheme for non-self-contained housing. This would make it more attractive for developers to build housing with shared amenities.
Fung Fen Chung explains. “Students can apply for rent allowance for studios, but not for a room with shared amenities. The rent allowance then makes it affordable for students, while the developers get the highest possible rent. Without any kind of rent subsidy for shared rooms, the developers will not build them.”
Debate
The student associations’ actions are bearing fruit. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives debated housing and Jan Paternotte (D66 political party) asked for attention to be paid to communal student accommodation and rent allowance.
“It is good to see that the Members of Parliament have picked up our points,” says Fung Fen Chung. “We hope that they understand how important it is to share accommodation and that something is done in the short term. A lot of accommodation will be built in the years to come and hopefully they will not only be studios.”
The letter is a joint action of ORAS, STIP, and the LKvV, and is supported by the WijWonen tenants’ association, the Delft Association Council (VeRa), and the SHS Delft property developer.
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