Dossier
Student housing
From a shortage of rooms to fraudulent landlords
Do you want a room in Delft? It is becoming increasingly difficult. The city has a shortfall of 1,500 rooms, reports the Woonmonitor (housing monitor) 2021. If TU Delft continues to grow, the shortage may rise to 3,600 by 2028. The Municipality of Delft wants to build more housing, but there is little land. The campus is big, but TU Delft sees few opportunities for housing there.
The tight housing market is also causing all sorts of other problems. These include fraud and problems with landlords. Who is responsible for the shortage of rooms and who will solve it? And who is standing up for the rights of residents? Read about this and more in this dossier.
The number of private student houses in Delft is decreasing fast as landlords are selling their properties. This emerged from the results of two investigations that were published last weekend. Projects in Delft to build new rooms are not getting off the ground easily. Why is this?
If you feel like doing something different this weekend, check what’s on in the theatre, says student columnist Mirte Brouwer. The threshold is low, the tickets are cheap, and it’s a lot of fun.
Duwo, the student housing provider, announced in June that it intended to change its vote-in housing policy. At present, residents themselves can choose a new flatmate. This will change in the future. The landlord will soon discuss this with students in Delft.
Duwo proposed a new vote-in policy, but according to Mirte Brouwer, not the vote-in policy, but the lack of rooms in student houses is the real issue. And on top of that, the plan risks being the death blow for many association houses.
Why is there such a huge housing shortage among students? According to TU Delft Professor of Housing System Peter Boelhouwer, this is mainly due to failing government policies. Nevertheless, he is cautiously optimistic.
In Eindhoven and Breda, rents for privately owned student rooms fell last year, while prices rose sharply in Tilburg, Nijmegen and Groningen. In Delft, rents rose by 10 percent. This is according to new figures from Kamernet.
Traffic signs are proudly displayed on the wall in some student houses. A stop sign in the corridor, street signs next to the fridge. How do they get there? And why?
The number of student rooms available on rental websites has fallen by almost 30 percent, reports Dutch newspaper NRC. Many landlords are putting their student houses up for sale. This is also happening in Delft, and Housing Minister Keijzer has expressed her concerns about this.
In a short amount of time, a petition against DUWO’s plea for ‘equal opportunities’ in flatmate interviews for housing has been signed 5,100 times. Residents want to continue to decide for themselves who their new flatmate will be.
Point systems and campus contracts. You will not make huge profits on renting out rooms anymore. So landlords are trying to empty their student houses as fast as possible to sell them. Students are the victims: “My landlady tried to force me out.”
1500 to 2500 new student homes on the sports fields around the intersection of Kruithuisweg and Mekelweg. The City Council will discuss this idea on Thursday. Many political parties and sports clubs are critical, including Thor. Delta spoke with this student rugby club.
The National Student Union (LSVb) is seeing a significant increase in the number of students who are scammed when looking for a room. They sometimes pay thousands of euros in deposit for a house that turns out not to be for rent at all. What needs to be done?
Just like other tenants, students can soon expect rent increases of several hundred euros per year, as the government has decided not to freeze rental prices.
Poor maintenance, rising rents, and the threat to demolish or sell student housing. TU Delft students are becoming increasingly concerned about their housing say several interest groups in a report.
Alex Nedelcu believes that he’s lucky to live in a city like Delft. However, he sees that it’s not an option for every TU Delft student. It seems to him that very few new housing developments are actually geared towards students.
Next year, nearly 400 student rooms will disappear from Aan ‘t Verlaat and Abtswoude Bloeit! Student columnist Mirte Brouwer advocates preserving these rooms until more student housing is created.
It is worth contacting the Rent Tribunal (Huurcommissie) if you feel you are paying excessive rent or service charges. In eight out of ten cases, room tenants were fully vindicated, reports news agency ANP, also in Delft.
Despite the shortage of student rooms, this summer Delft has five student rooms less: the Lorna te George student house is no longer open. And this may make a beer bottle collection of almost 1,700 bottles homeless. Delta spoke to the first and last resident of the student house.
Student columnist Mirte Brouwer is concerned that new student housing building plans consist mostly of studios. She thinks student welfare should outweigh financial profit in new construction projects.
Greater certainty for tenants. That was the aim of the Indefinite Rental Contracts Act (Wet vaste huurcontracten), which comes into effect on 1 July 2024. Last week it emerged that students have been included in a list of exemptions. What does that mean for your rental contract?
The students who live on the Van Hasseltlaan are dissatisfied about the way things are going in regard to students housing provider Duwo’s construction plans. Their biggest headaches? Poor communications and the long construction time. “Duwo is not taking us seriously.”
On 15 February, the House of Representatives will vote on the grant for students living away from home: at stake is the continuation of the extra 164 euros a month they receive at present. Meanwhile, student organisations want to see a permanent rise in the basic grant.
The people living around the Van Hasseltlaan feel wronged by student housing provider Duwo’s building and renovation plans. “I am having sleepless nights because of it,” says one of them.
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.
The residents of about 20 Duwo housing complexes in Delft have been waiting for months for the final bill for the service costs of 2022 and 2023. The final notification has not yet been delivered and the housing provider offers its apologies.
ORAS and STIP want more shared student accommodation built. They state this in a letter to all the party chairs of the national political parties.
A motion adopted unanimously by the Delft Municipal Council on 2 November states that Delft must fulfil its promise for more shared student accommodation.
It is unhealthily hot in spring and summer in the De Pauwmolen studios. “I fled to friends,” says one tenant. The owner of the flat, Plaza, responds slowly.
Mention the term ‘shortage of rooms’ and fingers automatically point to international students. Are they the cause or the scapegoat?
After several delays, Duwo is now certain that the building of the BalPol4 student flat will start this academic year. The flat is reserved for students aged 23 and older.
Duwo hopes to start building 660 student housing units on Heertjeslaan, on Campus South, next academic year. That is far from the city, but safety has been considered.
The National Student Housing Action Plan, announced with much fanfare, is supposed to solve the room shortage. What does this mean for Delft? “This plan does exactly nothing.”
Earlier this year, Wippolder gained notoriety after newspaper articles about student nuisance. Vice-rector magnificus Rob Mudde calls this kind of excesses antisocial.
