Students in Belgium have already started looking for university accommodation with the academic year six months away. Due to the massive demand and relatively few living spaces currently available, student living in Belgium has become rare and highly unaffordable.
The Ghent office for student housing received as many as 340 phone calls in the first two hours after an ad for vacant student rooms was published online, De Morgen reported. The office has been forced to ignore students’ phone calls as concerns regarding rooms and studios rise.
Queuing for viewings
Manager Serge Renard told De Morgen he has been renting out flats for 38 years but never experienced anything like this.
When organising visiting days for about 60 rooms, he saw how students desperately queued up in hopes of finding an affordable place to call home. “Some of the people had been standing there since 05:00. It was really not okay.”
“At some houses, they stood right up to the street and the cars could barely get through,” Renard said. “Even in houses where only two to three rooms were available, between thirty and forty people were queuing.”
Student Saar Van Hees (22) noticed the same thing in October, as she was looking online for a room in Leuven, after spending a semester abroad. “Every room that was somewhat decent immediately received fifty to sixty responses from interested people. Even though I turned on all notifications and immediately sent a message: it was always gone immediately.”
In 2019, she was also looking for a room. “It was no problem at the time: I already found something the year before, simply because there were so many available. When I tried to do the same last year, I noticed that there were very few rooms available.”
Lack of living spaces
The shortage on the housing market is continually increasing, and that shortage is only expected to grow. While the amount of students increases, Belgium is also attracting more international students.
Real estate expert Stadim and the accommodation manager Diggit Studentlife calculated last year in their Kotkompas that 95,000 rooms must be added by 2030 to absorb this increase.
But that doesn’t guarantee that living will be affordable, as rooms are also becoming more and more expensive. The average price of student rooms and studios in 2019-2020 was €400. Last year, that was €420. This year, it will likely be €426, according to the Confederation of Real Estate Professions (CIB).
Parents' pockets also affected
Parents can feel it in their pocket, as having one or several children going to study costs more every year. Dad Koen Vanachter relates: “Rooms we saw for our daughter last year were around €380. As we are looking for a room for our son, similar places now cost €430.”
“To give you an idea: the most expensive room we found went for 1,100 euros, in Leuven,” he said.
The reasons are the same as those for other rising costs: inflation and sky-high energy prices. Landlords are forced to increase their prices, as bills will be more expensive than before.
That comes at a price: “We already know that we will not be planning a big trip in the coming years,” Vanachter said. “We are adapting a bit in that respect.”
