The plan concerns temporary student housing, because it can be realized more quickly, councilor for Housing Mieke Verhees said during a press briefing about the project. Demand for new student housing is extremely high and appears to keep increasing. The housing units are expected to be completed by mid-2028.

It is not yet clear who will build and manage the housing; a public tender will be issued for that. Jan-Willem Schellekens, Director of Campus & Facilities, also cannot yet say whether the units will consist of studios or rooms. “There must be a strong social component: it has to be a place where students see and meet each other. That is a key condition.”

Master’s students given priority

The housing will not be reserved exclusively for TU/e students; students from Fontys and Summa will also be eligible. A distribution formula will determine how many students from each institution qualify. In the case of TU/e, master’s students will be given priority, as they are needed in the context of Project Beethoven (see box).

This also applies to other student housing in Eindhoven over which the university has a say. Groothuis estimates that this concerns between 400 and 500 units.

Eindhoven faces a major shortage of student rooms. Just last year, the university said it had missed out on 500 students due to the housing shortage. For the coming year, Vice President of the Executive Board Patrick Groothuis expects a similar scenario. From 2028 onward, he foresees a different situation, partly thanks to the planned housing at De Hondsheuvels.

However, the new construction will not nearly solve the shortage. Meanwhile, the university continues to attract more students, through autonomous growth as well as targeted recruitment for Project Beethoven. TU/e is currently recruiting actively for this purpose, aiming to reach 1,903 additional master’s students by 2030.

When asked whether Beethoven should be slowed down due to the housing shortage, Groothuis does not provide a direct answer. “Let me turn that around: if, at some point, I can offer the first 600 master’s students who enroll a housing guarantee, that would be fantastic.” He acknowledges, however, that this is more of a dream than reality.

Delaying student recruitment for Beethoven does not seem to be an option, but according to councilor Mieke Verhees, it is a constant search for the right balance between growth and capacity. “And it’s complicated—I’m not going to sugarcoat it. But we’re trying to address it with targeted measures and acceleration efforts.”

The student golf association E.S.G.V. De Club will get a new home at golf club de Tongelreep. The soccer clubs will be able to continue playing. All sports fields will be converted to artificial turf, with the exception of the field next to Vector, where the university wants to keep options open for possible alternative uses.

That field, however, is not large enough for the annual student grass volleyball tournament Hajraa, and artificial turf is not suitable for volleyball, according to Groothuis. Hajraa will therefore have to find a new location. “But we will help them with that.”

Back in 2023, 50PLUS and the VVD in the Eindhoven city council submitted a motion calling for an exploration of possibilities for student housing at the site of the golf course. That motion was rejected.

During last Tuesday’s council meeting, Fontys student Hilko Werkman of the VVD asked whether the municipality had seriously discussed with TU/e the possibility of using the golf course as a promising location for student housing.

In her response at the time, housing councilor Mieke Verhees did not say that plans were already in place, but she did state that advanced discussions were underway with TU/e about other potential locations. Werkman says he is “pleasantly surprised” by the news about the new housing at the site where the golf course is currently located.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.