Here the rent costs twice as much as the rent. To live properly you have to work, says Helen (23)

The average student currently receives NOK 126,357 for student support, i.e. loans and scholarships, annually. This corresponds to 10,530 NOK per month, or 11,487 NOK for the eleven months in which you actually receive student support.

according to one new report From the Norwegian Students Organization (NSO), the average price for housing rent in Norway is 10,389 NOK.

This means that the student is left with 141 kroner of student support after paying the rent. The number will vary depending on the type of home and its location in the country.

– I believe that all students should have the opportunity to live safely, affordably and predictably throughout their studies. Rental prices are very high with the financial resources of today’s students. Here, the government must come to the fore and find solutions that improve the study situation, says NSO President Tuva Todnem Lund.

Double the price in Oslo

The analysis looks at rent prices for apartments and rooms in shared flats and dormitories in 25 Norwegian cities from June to December 2021. It collected data on 58,310 ads from Finn.no and Hybel.no and implemented it by Analyze og Tall.

There are huge price differences between cities, but Oslo comes out on top for all of the housing types.

A room in a shared apartment in Oslo costs an average of 6,684 NOK per month, and an average university housing costs 9,430 NOK.

In Haugesund, a room in a shared apartment costs only 3,948 kroner, about 3000 kroner less than in Oslo.

And in Fulda, the cost of housing is 3,959 kroner, which is much less than half of the Oslo dormitory.

I have to work

Helen Rostom (23 years old) studies administration and management at OsloMet and lives in a housing association with two others in Sagene outside downtown Oslo.

Here they pay 5600 kr each, and electricity is not included.

– Do you think paying too much when you are a student?

– actually yes. But you get used to it being the way it “should be” somehow, but it doesn’t have to be, says Rostom.

The student says that large price differences between cities may make it more difficult to get to Oslo, at the same time:

– It creates a kind of propaganda that Oslo is worth it, and that it must be expensive.

Røstum says she chose to work full time for half a year before beginning her studies at OsloMet. She lived with her parents to save money on rent.

– So you have to rent a little money to keep working, and then you will rise with only scholarships. But to live properly, you have to work, at least a few days a week after your studies, she says.

– You must have a buffer of some kind, Rostom asserts.

Røstum also reacts to the fact that Studentamskipnaden SiO does not offer cheaper housing in Oslo. She believes that they should adapt better to the student economy.

-It is odd that it is almost as expensive as the rest of the offer in the market, when it has to be adapted to students who receive a certain amount, and they know what the amount is, she says.

NSO: – Development Purchase

For an individual student, this means that you will get less money each month. What you get each month doesn’t even cover basic expenses, says NSO President, Tuva Todnem Lund.

She says NSO is concerned about rental rates for several reasons.

The first is which future students will actually have the opportunity to study because of the prices. Many students rely on financial aid from home. This is a smart development, and it could lead to less diversity in academia.

We are also concerned about the opportunities you have in everyday life. There will be less time for volunteering, Lund continues, and less time for volunteering each month.

Lund points out that increasing student support to 1.5 times the base amount in the National Insurance Scheme (1.5 grams) is an obvious measure to improve the situation.

– In addition to student support, we believe that more student housing should be built and old housing rehabilitated. With more student housing, more people won’t have to rent in the private market, and that will equalize prices, she says.

Today, student housing covers about 15 percent of students’ housing needs. NSO will have a coverage rate of at least 20 percent.

Force not included

The NSO survey also found that quite a few rental ads include information about whether or not electricity is included.

Among the advertisements that provide information on electricity at all, electricity is included in the quarter. With the high prices of electricity today, electricity will be a significant cost to many students.

Only 25 percent of ads mention the home energy label.

– We see that very few advertisements cover electricity. When students also need a ticket for public transportation, food, hygiene, textbooks, and possibly a visit to the dentist, it doesn’t work, Lund says.

Another study from NSO concluded that 28 percent of students take out consumer loans while they are studying. 8 out of 10 students also work part-time, 4 out of 10 rely on financial support from home, Lund states.

– There is so much that means you have no other choice. Housing prices help create an additional division among students.

– Now there is soon a deadline for submission of applications for higher education. Lund concludes that I’m excited about whether these numbers will affect where students advance, and what they will mean for future generations.