Growing pressure on the housing market
The number of applicants to Student Housing has skyrocketed during the past year. The leader of the National Union of Students in Norway fears that this will lead to students being forced onto the private housing market.
På norsk;)
FOTO: Brian Olguin
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FOTO: Brian Olguin
The number of applicants to housing belonging to the Foundation for Student Life (SiO) has as of April this year risen by 1164 compared to the same time last year and 1526 compared to the year before. This results in an increase of 38 per cent compared to last year, and 57 per cent compared to 2006.
- These statistics tell us how urgent the need for student housing is. This is a precarious situation, and we fear that this number will rise during the course of the year, says Fredrik Refsnes, leader of the Welfare Council of Oslo.
At the same time, the 6000 student residences belonging to SiO are operating on reduced capacity, as all of the 226 bathrooms in the Grünerløkka Silo have to be torn down due to a construction flaw. Student Housing will therefore not accept external applications to the Silo until the end of 2009. In addition to this, international students have a claim on approximately a third of student housing, as they are guaranteed accommodation by SiO.
Guaranteed housing
Per Anders Langerød, leader of the National Union of Students in Norway, thinks that many students now risk being thrown into a market of private operators and bidding wars, and he also fears that the situation may deteriorate during the course of the summer and autumn.
- This does not bode well, he says.
The Ministry of Education and Research (KD) has granted 153 million kroner to new student accommodation in 2008, and part of this will cover the cost of building 103 student residences in Oslo. Langerød says that the responsibility should not just lie with the government, but also with the individual municipalities, who according to Langerød must make sure to provide plots of land on which one can build more housing.
- Several mayors went out and demanded that the government should get a grip on the housing situation, but so much can also be done on a local level through the Acency for Planning and Building Services, he says.
A pleased State Secretary
Another possible initiative, according to Langerød, is that the student foundations could help students find housing on the private market, when they are not able to offer anything themselves.
- But on the private market the students meet another challenge. The average price for a bedsit in Oslo is 5800 kroner, and the financial support that students receive is not adjusted to such high housing costs, says Langerød.
Jens Revold (SV), State Secretary for the Minister of Research and Higher education Tora Aasland, says that they will evaluate the total funds allotted to studies in the 2009 budget, but he cannot promise more housing or a further increase of financial support given to students. Revold says that he is pleased with the initiatives that have already been put in place by the government regarding the housing market.
- We have increased the cost framework for building new student housing from 500 000 to 600 000 per unit in the larger cities. In addition to this, the student loan has been increased from 80 000 to 85 000 kroner, he says.
- According to NSU, an average student residence on the private market in Oslo costs 5800 kroner a month. Is this manageable on a student loan of 85 000 kroner a year?
- Of course, if you are talking about a full time student, then it is not. However, there are many people who want their share of the cake, and this is something that we must continue to look at in 2009, says Revold.
Will continue to rise
Christian Rasmussen, Managing Director of the website hybel.no, says that there is reason to believe that the prices on the rental market will continue to rise.
- Many people are expecting a drop in housing prices, and are therefore choosing to rent rather than buy now. We also see that as it has become harder to sell houses, estate agents have swapped places with letting agents, Rasmussen states.
He says that letting agents are creating bidding wars among tenants, which in turn is leading to further commercialization of the housing market. He advises students to get in early when it comes to finding a place to live.
- The prices are at an absolute high in August, and therefore it does not in fact pay off to wait until the last moment before the semester starts, he says.
