ANPTwo students in a student room (illustrative)
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 14:10
In the fight against the housing shortage, student housing provider SSH& in Nijmegen has opted for a striking solution. Since this month, international students can rent a room here together.
It is still a trial for six months with ten rooms in the Boeckstaetehof complex, but if it goes well, sharing rooms may be expanded to other complexes.
In Groningen, too, SSH rents out 56 rooms for two people in the so-called peak shelter for international students. And in Zwolle and Utrecht, SSH has been doing this for several years, but in those cities it has nothing to do with the room shortage, says an SSH spokesperson. “We also want students with a smaller budget to be able to rent.”
In Nijmegen, the provision of shared rooms is the result of the room shortage. Nationally, about 60,000 extra rooms are needed until 2030, according to the National Action Plan for Student Housing 2022 to 2030. With the shared rooms, SSH& wants to house as many students as possible in Nijmegen. “We have looked for creative solutions, in addition to building additional rooms,” says the spokesperson.
Rooms quickly forgiven
Students who opt for a shared room in Nijmegen receive a total of 18 square metres. They both pay half of the rent, which, according to the SSH& spokesman, amounts to about 230 to 250 euros all-in per person.
The pilot came about in consultation with Radboud University. He asked international students if they were interested in shared rooms. “They were so gone,” says a spokesperson. “There’s a couple in there, but also strangers, who’ve been paired up by the university.”
Prefer room to myself
Maria Bordacheva (20) from Moscow has been living in a room for two people at the peak shelter in Groningen since August 11. She doesn’t have a roommate at the moment, but she may have one in the future.
Soon she will start the Design program at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. From Moscow, Bordacheva was unable to find her own room in Groningen. “Of course I prefer a room to myself, because of privacy, but the room shortage is a big problem here.”
The student union LSVb understands that creative solutions are being sought. “But we don’t see sharing rooms as a structural solution,” says chairwoman Elisa Weehuizen. “More rooms need to be built.”
2023-08-25 12:10:39
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