A report into the European student housing by property group Savills reveals that the Netherlands is the second-most expensive country for a student to rent in, after the United Kingdom.

Average student housing costs

Dutch students pay on average 100 euros a week for a room, with only the British worse off at 136 euros a room.

At the other end of the scale is Germany, where students pay nearly half (57 euros) of their Dutch counterparts. The Netherlands’ other neighbour, Belgium, is also much better value at 66 euros a week.

As reported earlier, Amsterdam is the most expensive city in the Netherlands for students to rent in, with a monthly rent of around 500 euros a room. The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht are more affordable at around 400 euros a month, with students in Tilburg, Eindhoven and Wageningen paying only around 300 euros a month.

This is after the price of rooms in the Netherlands rose by almost 10 per cent last year. This may have been due in part to the increase in students in the Netherlands: enrolments in the Netherlands increased by 9 per cent from 2010 to 2011.

International students

There was an even greater increase in international student enrolments. The 2010-2011 academic year saw an 18 per cent jump in non-Dutch students attending Dutch universities, bringing the proportion of international students in the Netherlands to 10 per cent.

The majority of international students in the Netherlands come from Germany (62 per cent), but Dutch universities are actively trying to increase and broaden international enrolments by teaching more courses in English.

This trend is set to increase across Europe, with the forecast for students enrolling in universities outside their country of citizenship in 2025 reaching eight million, up from four million in 2010 and only 2 million in 2000.

Student housing provision

Currently, only 17 per cent of Dutch students live in student housing, with nearly half living in private accommodation and the rest remaining with their parents.

Many municipalities are working to build more housing to meet the increasing demand. Other universities have found that their on-campus housing is now full, with greater demand expected, especially from international students.

Whether the new housing projects will be able to meet the increasing demand for student places from domestic and international students remains to be seen, as does what affect all this will have on prices.

According to Savills, at least, investing in student housing in Wageningen, Utrecht and, above all, Amsterdam will provide a good return on investment.
 

Top 10 European countries for expensive student housing

Sources: Savills, University of Twente