Figures from the city authorities in Ghent reveal that there is a shortage of 10,000 student digs in the East Flemish capital. The Ghent student council is now sounding the alarm and demanding action is taken.
The shortage means that prices students are obliged to pay for student rooms have gone through the roof. “Student digs now range from 800 to 1,000 euros a month” says Nele Van Hoyweghen of the Ghent student council. “In other places you can find an entire house for prices like that!”
The council wants to make it compulsory for builders of new student accommodation to ensure 80% of rooms in each large building accommodating students are “basic” student rooms. Basic rooms are at least 12 square metres large and have shared facilities. At present there is an obligation that at least 20% of rooms in new build student halls should be “basic”. “Only by increasing this to 80% can you guarantee quality digs at an acceptable price in the limited space available” says the council.
“For students from West Flanders and Limburg Province an affordable student room means the difference between studying or not. We are sounding the alarm to ensure studying doesn’t become the domain of the elite”.
Ghent university has already applied this rule in its own student accommodation for 60 years with success, the council notes.
The council also wants neighbouring municipalities to look at the construction of student villages, where large numbers of students can be accommodated. “This can be a sustainable solution” says Nele “especially with good transport links to and from student campuses in Ghent”.
The council accepts basic rooms bring in lower rents but points out more can be built in the same space ensuring there is no loss of earnings.