Students in Amsterdam are now paying an average of 948 euros per month for a room - almost 400 euros more than the national average across the Netherlands. According to data from Kamernet published by the Dutch newspaper Het Parool, the price of student rooms in the capital city increased by 39,4 percent between 2021 and 2023. 

Going rate for student rooms stands at 551 euros nationally

Outside of Amsterdam, the going rate for a student room stands at 551 euros, almost 400 euros less than the price in Amsterdam, according to data from Kamernet for 2023. Kamernet’s data analysed 157.062 rental properties on its website for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, excluding social housing, and found that the price of rooms in Amsterdam has increased significantly over the past two years. 

In other Dutch cities such as The Hague and Breda, prices are also rising sharply. In The Hague, students paid an average of 696 euros per month for a room in 2023, up 31,8 percent compared to 2021, while in Breda, rents rose 29,5 percent to 557 euros per month. The cheapest student rooms can be found in the Dutch city of Wageningen, with an average rent of just 359 euros per month.

Student union representatives are unsurprised about the new data for Amsterdam

A representative from the student union ASVA told Het Parool that they are “not surprised” about the new data. “There is too little social housing for students,” she said. “In the private sector, where more than half end up, the rent quickly approaches 1.000 euros per month or more. We really see that students who do not receive financial aid are less likely to get a room. Look at our board; two of them still live at home.”

50,6 percent of the rooms offered on Kamernet are rented by private landlords, and 35,9 percent of the advertisements posted on the platform are from people hunting for a roommate. The leftover users are made up of real estate professionals, locals with spare bedrooms, departing tenants and property managers. The private housing sector in the Netherlands regularly receives criticism from student unions and other housing associations regarding high rents.