- Student
- 16/10/2026
Eindhoven youth and students make a musical plea for housing
With a lot of fanfare, around forty different vehicles will travel through downtown Eindhoven on Saturday, from cargo bikes to tractors, some equipped with sound systems. Several collectives are using the musical procession to draw attention to the housing shortage and the lack of gathering spaces for young people.
Eindhoven is growing, but who is it growing for? That is the question activist group Bass For Space is asking. As it did last year, the group is organizing a street rave demonstration to draw attention to these issues.
“Last year, we focused solely on the housing crisis. This time, we decided to take a broader approach,” says Teun van den Braak, a former TU/e student and member of the organizing team. Bass For Space is calling not only for more affordable housing, but also for more gathering spaces for young people.
Spaces to meet and create
“Gathering spaces are places where young people can get together informally, both to meet one another and to create things together,” Van den Braak explains. He cites nightlife venue Club Symbiose and cultural center Sectie-C as examples.
“Young people want to create things and make things happen. In these communities, money is a means to an end, not the goal,” Teun explains. “They are the driving force behind events and activities in the city; they bring the city to life. If you take those gathering spaces away from young people, you will see that dynamism disappear.”
Few rooms, high rents
Eindhoven faces a structural shortage of thousands of student rooms. On top of that, more than half of the rooms listed on Kamernet are advertised at rents above the legal limit.
Last month, young people from Bass For Space also drew attention to the housing crisis in a different way. At 18 Septemberplein, they recreated a living room where people shared stories and experiences about searching for a home or student room.
Many young people struggle with high housing costs. “We had written those stories on moving boxes,” Van den Braak says. The message behind the installation was clear: “We simply have nowhere to go, so we might as well live on the streets.”
The housing shortage is not limited to Eindhoven. In recent years, many privately owned student rental properties have been sold, partly because new tax rules have made renting out properties less profitable for private landlords. According to Kences, the knowledge center for student housing, more than 32,000 student rooms have disappeared in the Netherlands in recent years.
Room shortage also affects TU/e
It is difficult to determine exactly how many rooms Eindhoven is currently short of. What is clear, however, is that the shortage remains substantial. Last year, the university reported that it had missed out on 500 students because of the lack of student rooms.
TU/e recently signed a letter of intent to build 5,400 additional student housing units by 2030. The university cannot develop student housing itself, but it can make land available for construction. One example is De Hondsheuvels, where 700 students will eventually be able to live.
This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.
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