An unexpected consequence of the coronavirus crisis can be seen in the housing market. As fewer international students are coming to the Netherlands, more rooms have become available.
This is confirmed by figures coming from Kamernet. When the coronavirus crisis started, 53% more rooms were available, as many international students returned home, reports RTL Nieuws.
The market has since stabilized, but there is still more housing availability than last year. At the beginning of July, there were 18% more homes on rental websites compared to the same period last year.
Student cities experience this differently
The amount of available rooms varies depending on the student city. In the Hague, 21% more rooms were offered compared to last year in June. In Rotterdam, there were 14.5% more rooms, in Utrecht 38% and in Amsterdam 44%.
Not only have there been more rooms available, but waiting lists have also become shorter. According to Mark Kuipers, CEO of Greystar, a real estate developer for the student campus in Diemen, “Normally you call the first ten, and then you have filled the rooms. Now we had to call 40 people.”
Nevertheless, Kuipers considers that the demand for student housing in the Netherlands remains high.
Paul Tholenaars, the director of Kences, a knowledge centre for student housing, believes this is only a temporary shift. “When the foreign students left, it expanded the room market, but the number of students is still growing, so the housing shortage continues to increase. Corona has given some space, but interest in studying is not diminishing.”
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