The paper analyzed data from rent.nl, a site that aggregates rental listings from hundreds of websites, focusing on properties up to 25 square meters—typically student rooms and small studio apartments. The comparison was made between listings from a year ago and those available today.

Among the ten Dutch cities with the highest number of student housing listings, only Arnhem and Groningen saw slight increases. In Eindhoven, Utrecht, Amsterdam, and The Hague, the number of listings plummeted by about 40 percent.

This trend reflects broader challenges in the national housing market. The Dutch government has introduced legislation to curb rent prices and strengthen tenant protections in response to the ongoing housing crisis. However, these measures appear to have made student housing less profitable, leading some landlords to sell their properties instead. Policy exemptions designed to protect student rentals seem to have fallen short.

Warnings

The Dutch Student Union (LSVb) warned about this trend two years ago. “All the alarm bells are ringing,” said the union’s chair at the time. Landlords and real estate agents also raised concerns back then.

The LSVb advocated for housing subsidies for student renters, which would allow landlords to raise rents while keeping student housing viable. That proposal was ultimately rejected by lawmakers due to its high cost.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing is encouraging the revival of the “hospita” model, in which homeowners rent out a room in their house. To make this more appealing, the ministry is proposing to reduce tenant protections for lodgers living with the owner—for example, allowing the homeowner to evict the tenant when selling the house.

Plans to build additional student housing are also in motion, but they conflict with the government’s desire to freeze rent levels in the social housing sector. If rents remain capped, housing associations say they will lack the financial resources to invest in new construction.

International students

Some political parties blame the influx of international students for the housing shortage. This criticism has fueled a political backlash against English-language university programs. However, most parties now seem persuaded by counterarguments from major businesses and cross-border regions, which emphasize that international students are very much needed.