Cabinet: millions more for student housing construction

A few weeks ago, it emerged that the nationwide shortage of student housing is barely declining: it remains at around 20,000 units, according to Kences, the knowledge center for student housing.

Today, the Minister of Housing is presenting a list of measures aimed at reducing the shortage. Starting in 2029, the government will allocate 60 million to 65 million euros annually to the construction of “non-self-contained housing,” such as student rooms. The amount is currently 25 million euros. These figures are included in an action plan for housing construction.

Provinces and municipalities will also have to provide more student rooms. They must ensure that 60 percent of new student housing consists of non-self-contained housing.

Lower taxes

Housing corporations have been paying corporate income tax since 2006. It currently costs them nearly 1 billion euros. The tax is a major point of contention for housing corporations: all the money collected by the government cannot be invested in new homes.

The government is not abolishing the tax yet, but it is offering housing corporations some relief through another measure: they will be allowed to deduct more interest from their taxes. This could save them several hundred million euros.

Construction plans

The action plan says nothing about the intention to build more housing on the campuses of universities and universities of applied sciences, for which TU/e has also made space available. In response to questions from MPs from CDA about student housing, the minister says she will return to the issue later this year.

She does claim that the 19 largest student cities have “definitive construction plans” for 17,000 student housing units. There are also said to be “preliminary construction plans” for nearly another 18,000 units.

That does not mean the shortage of 20,000 student housing units will have been resolved, as the director of Kences explained earlier this month. Because of the housing shortage, many young people have given up looking for a place to live. Once more housing becomes available, they may still start looking for a room of their own, meaning the shortage could rise again.

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