Since the introduction of the student loan system in 2015, the share of Dutch students living away from home has decreased from 53 to 44 percent. For almost half of the students living at home, the high room rents are the main reason for not staying in student housing, according to the new National Student Housing Monitor. But now that the basic grant has been reintroduced, the demand will start growing rapidly again, expects Kences, the trade association of social student housing.

The shortage of student housing has fallen from 27,000 to 23,700 since last year, but by 2030 it is expected to have risen again to 39,700 to 56,800. All the more reason to keep building, says Kences.

Internationals

The total number of students living away from home in the Netherlands has increased compared to 2015-2016. This is because the Netherlands now has many more international students, almost all of whom live in student housing. Of all 754,500 students in the Netherlands, including internationals, 400,000 are now living away.

The average rent for students in higher education is 480 euros for rooms with shared facilities, 565 euros for a one-room accommodation and 775 euros for a multi-room house.

Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Leiden, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Den Bosch, Utrecht and Zwolle currently have the most problematic housing market for students.