Parents turn to buying single student rooms

A severe shortage of rental accommodation is leading more parents to buy individual rooms in student houses. Listings for these spaces regularly appear online, typically under 20 square metres and priced at up to 200,000 euros.

Estate agents report growing demand from parents who use savings to complete purchases without financing clauses. The shortage of student housing currently stands at roughly 20,000 places, according to calculations by student housing knowledge centre Kences.

Shared ownership and split deeds

Buying an individual room differs from a regular property transaction because the space is usually part of a wider building. Buyers often acquire shared ownership of the entire property, which can leave a single home with up to five different co-owners.

Another legal path involves formally dividing a property into self-contained units with their own bathrooms and kitchens. This route requires an official division deed from the municipality signed before a notary.

Financing hurdles and municipal pushback

Mortgage lenders generally refuse to finance single rooms because buyers have little control over how co-owners maintain the rest of the building. As a result, deals depend almost entirely on parental savings or family-backed mortgages.

Several student cities oppose the practice. Utrecht already enforces rules against individual room sales because of concerns over market inequality, while Groningen has also described the trend as undesirable.

Source: NOS