Students flee rooms because of extreme heat: ‘The landlord does nothing’

The residents of De Pauwmolen – a barely two-year-old* block of flats for young people close to the TU Delft campus – have complained for nearly one-and-a-half years about the temperatures in their studios. To be clear, this is not about the current high summer temperatures. The problem starts in spring. This year, residents say that the temperature varied between 22 and 27 degrees in March, April and May. During last week’s heatwave, the indoor temperature was even almost 30 degrees.

143 new student studios

Mosaic World, formerly known as Camelot Europe, is currently putting the finishing touches on 143 student studios and 142 ‘starter apartments’ on the Pauwmolenterrein in Delft. As of this week, you can register for the apartments, writes the housing provider in a press release.

The apartments are so-called short stay housing, where tenants stay up to 6 months. The basic rent for student studios starts at 590 euros, for apartments at 632 euros. This does not include service costs and upholstery and furnishing costs. Residents aged 23 or older can apply for rent subsidies for the apartments.

Tenants can move in after September 1. Registration can be done through the website Spots4You.com.

Camelot Europe has come under fire several time in the past few years due due, among other things, high service costs. Recently Youtube program BOOS made an episode about the housing provider.

The residents have experienced discomfort from the heat for months, in part because the heat is retained at night. “After just one week of sunshine, the indoor temperature was 24 degrees in March. The high temperatures in the summer especially make me sluggish, I get headaches, can barely concentrate and I sleep very badly,” says TU Delft alumnus Sarah (surname known to the Editorial Office). “Other residents have told me that they too suffer similarly.”

Quality of sleep

The complaints that Sarah describes can indeed be caused by the heat, says Maria Hopman, Professor of Physiology at the Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen. “We know that heat in bedrooms negatively affects the quality of sleep and hampers concentration.” Hopman says that the best ambient temperature to live, work and study in is between 19 and 21 degrees. Your body has to work harder in temperatures outside this range. “You may sweat more unnoticed and have to drink more water.”

‘Many residents are sleeping elsewhere at the moment’

Sarah and other residents have gone in search of solutions themselves over the last one-and-a-half years. They keep the curtains closed when it is sunny and open the windows as much as they can in the evenings. Some residents have even bought mobile air conditioners, but turn them off at night because of the noise. “While it is just then that the heat is so uncomfortable,” says Sarah.

Fleeing

Sarah ‘fled’ to friends last summer to avoid the high temperatures. She is thinking about doing the same this year. TU Delft student and co-resident Nathan (real name known to the Editorial Office) says that he avoids his studio during the day and only goes there to sleep. Sarah and Nathan are not the only residents that take these kinds of measures, they say. “Many residents are sleeping elsewhere at the moment,” says Nathan. “And my international neighbours stay in the University Library till midnight every day as it is so hot in their rooms. This is no life.”

In Leiden, students went through a similar issue before 2021. The temperature in newly built studios owned by Duwo, the student housing company, could hit 37 degrees. Only after years of complaints and a lot of coverage in national media (in Dutch) did Duwo come up with a solution (in Dutch). Each studio now has air con, though the extra costs that this brings is charged to the tenant.

The problem has been known for a while

The De Pauwmolen complex is owned by Plaza Resident Services, a leasing company that used to be called Camelot. Correspondence seen by Delta showed that residents had already informed Plaza of the heat issue in March 2022. But contact with Plaza is not easy. “Plaza representatives only turned up in September of that year – more than half a year later,” says Sarah.

‘An expensive report just puts up barriers’

While waiting for them to visit, 12 residents kept a record of the temperature in their studios in August and the first week of September 2022. The record shows that the temperature consistently exceeded 25 degrees, even in the coolest rooms. The highest temperature in the hottest studios peaked at 33 degrees. They produced a graphic of their findings and shared it with Plaza. But this did not have the desired effect. “The representatives said that the block of flats met all the required standards and that Plaza was therefore not prepared to make any significant investments unless compelled to do so by the Huurcommissie (Fair Rent Commission, Eds.) or a judge.” The Huurcommissie is a national agency that mediates between tenants and landlords in cases of conflict.

Very expensive report

Sarah, Nathan and their co-residents had already informed the Huurcommissie of the heat problem, albeit in the context of proceedings for a lower rent. The Huurcommissie specifies that heat is considered a problem if the temperature exceeds 26.5 degrees for more than 300 hours a year. In January of this year the Huurcommissie ruled (in Dutch) that the heat issue had not been sufficiently demonstrated as the tenants had not submitted an expert’s report from a certified agency. “A report like that costs thousands of euros. Students do not have the money,” says Sarah.

In 2023 and 2022, the Huurcommissie had required experts’ reports in cases brought against landlords in other cities about temperatures. The Woonbond (the tenants’ association) is surprised that the agency requires a report like this. “The Huurcommissie is supposed to be approachable so that all tenants can contact them. An expensive report like this just puts up barriers,” says Mathijs ten Broeke, the Woonbond spokesperson. Delta submitted several questions to the Huurcommissie. The Huurcommissie is currently researching the answers to those questions.

The Huurcommissie informs Delta that it understands that it can be very expensive for tenants to have such expert research conducted. “Partly for this reason, we are now investigating to what extent the established energy label can be useful in assessing an (increased) risk of a heat dwelling.” Asked by Delta why measurements taken by residents themselves are not sufficient, a spokesperson replied that this has to do with the independent and impartial position of the Huurcommissie. Independent expertise is required, the agency said. “This is also needed to identify the impact of influencing factors, such as exterior blinds, window size, degree of insulation, year of construction and location of the home, occupant behavior and any cooling greenery.”

No answer

What Plaza did do was send someone to check the ventilation in the corridors. The lessor was supposed to have sent a report of the visit, but according to Sarah and Nathan, this was not done. Plaza is not responding at all to simple affordable solutions that residents are coming up with. “Many of the studios have black curtains which absorb (in Dutch) heat,” says Sarah, “My suggestion to hang white curtains everywhere has been ignored.”

De Pauwmolen featured in the news before

Delta asked Plaza about the possible cause of the unusual heat during spring. Bob de Vilder, spokesperson and co-founder, repeatedly refused to discuss the high spring temperatures and stated that the residents “just like everyone in the Netherlands are having to deal with the high outdoor temperatures and strong sunshine that push up the indoor temperature”. He also noted that the residents of De Pauwmolen have not reported the heat issue “either in our residents portal or to the caretaker”. That is not correct. Delta has a copy of a report in the residents portal.

Over the last few years, the YouTube channel programme Boos (which means angry, Eds.) has dedicated several episodes to Plaza on issues such as problems with service costs, hygiene and safety in flats in other cities. De Pauwmolen featured in the news before. At the beginning of this year, Delta and other media (in Dutch) wrote about the lack of hot water in the flat. One month later, Boos visited Plaza’s head office for a story about the hot water problems.

In the meantime, tenants like sarah and Nathan are not looking forward to the remaining summer months. Sarah has been looking for a new place to live for more than nine months because of the problems. “I think about it continuously. It causes so much stress.” Nathan believes that the worst is still to come. “I will be in Delft all summer. I think the nights will be the worst.”

• Delta’s editors added a more extensive response from the Huurcommissie to this article on June 28.
• Sarah’s last name is known to the editors. Nathan’s name is fictitious because he does not want to jeopardize his lease. His full real name is known to the editors.