Netherlands still short of over 20,000 student homes despite thousands being built
The Netherlands is still facing a serious shortage of student housing, despite thousands of new homes being built in recent years.
New figures from the National Student Housing Monitor show that the country is currently short of more than 20,200 student homes.
That is only a small improvement from 2025, when the shortage stood at around 21,000 homes.
Student housing providers have built an average of almost 5,000 new homes every year since 2022.
This has helped bring the shortage down gradually over the past five years, but finding accommodation remains difficult for many students.
There had been fears that the sale of rental properties following changes to rent regulations would make the student housing crisis much worse.
However, knowledge centre Kences said this has not happened as expected.
It said the number of Dutch and international students has fallen, while student housing providers have also continued building homes on a large scale.
The number of students renting rooms has dropped by more than 32,000 since 2024.
Despite this, demand for student housing remains high.
Kences said:
“We see in new construction projects that students who had given up hope are actively searching again,”
The figures also show a major change in how students live.
In 2015, more than two-thirds of students moved into student accommodation. Today, only about half do so.
Students who cannot find accommodation are increasingly being forced to travel longer distances to attend their schools and universities.
Kences warned that simply completing the housing projects already planned will not solve the problem.
It said:
“Even if all new construction plans go ahead, there will be a shortage of 10,000 to 35,000 student homes in eight years.”
The organisation believes social student housing providers should be given more opportunities to build.
Kences said:
“Social student housing providers could build 15,000 to 25,000 more homes this way.”
Among its proposals is removing profit tax for housing corporations.
Kences also wants more campus housing developments and fewer restrictions that can make new projects difficult or expensive.
One example is relaxing requirements for developers to provide parking spaces when constructing student accommodation.
