Thousands of students across the Netherlands have stopped looking for accommodation as the severe shortage creates an unrecorded deficit in official statistics.
Student housing knowledge centre Kences reports that official figures undercount the crisis because searchers drop out of view when available rooms hit zero.
Housing consultants at Stichting WOON note that incoming freshmen increasingly settle for multi-hour commutes or choose local universities to avoid the housing search.
Warnings to international students
The situation has led institutions including the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University to advise incoming international students to stay home if they lack a verified housing contract.
Those who continue searching often face exploitation and scams, according to the National Student Union.
The union has documented cases of students paying €725 a month for windowless, contract-free rooms infested with bedbugs to avoid homelessness.
Dedicated campus development
Kences advocates for prioritising dedicated student housing campuses to help address the deficit.
Because these campus projects use specific zoning rules, they do not compete directly with standard residential housing developments for land.
A newly completed development at Utrecht Science Park recently delivered 900 dedicated studios and rooms, where the first students have now moved in.
