Returning to what it was before Corona – VG

Several thousand students line up for rent from student co-operatives in student cities. In Stavanger and Oslo, the price increased more than the student’s salary increase.

Reports said at least 13,000 students are queuing for student housing at student unions in Norway. VG At the beginning of July. A few weeks before the start of the semester, the rental queues from samskipnad are still long.

– Although we have 300 new student housing in Blindern, we feel that the need for student housing in Oslo is much greater than the supply. It’s filling up, but there’s still some movement in the queue, says housing director Gun Kirsti Luca at SiO in Oslo.

On July 15, the association had 6,321 students on its accommodation waiting list. The numbers from the same date in 2019 are 6,373.

We see that the demand has returned to what it was before Corona. During the pandemic, fewer students came. Many people are looking for a home in August.

At the same time that the waiting lists are long, the price of rent has also gone up. In Stavanger, the Student Union adopted a 2.5 percent rate increase on average. The increase in Oslo was 3.9 percent.

This is more than the increased support provided by Lånekassen. For the 2022-2023 academic year, it is planned that Lånekassens support rates will be adjusted by 2%. Thus, students who have basic loans get An additional NOK 230 per month.

earlier than expected

In western Norway, the student union is in high demand.

Do you see any change compared to the beginning of the semester last year?

Demand has been high for a long time and we already had 2,200 on the waiting list on July 1, which is not a number we were expecting to see early on. Plus, we’re seeing fewer cancellations than before, says CEO Amalie Lund.

Those who rent from the Students’ Union of Western Norway face a rent rate adjusted 1.9 per cent from last year.

– There is a huge demand for housing and we see that students are being pushed into a difficult private market, says Lundy.

In western Norway, there are 2,400 on the waiting list.

– Perhaps this figure is not entirely realistic because we know that students, for example, find housing in the private market, or they no longer go to study where they applied for housing, but forget to delete their applications from the list.

Official numbers on housing waiting lists from student co-operatives come out on August 1 and 15.

In the Norwegian Arctic Students’ Union system, there are 1,558 people on the waiting list.

– We see that the situation today is closer to the fall of 2019, and we see that the numbers of applicants are similar to the years before the pandemic. We are expecting “normal pressure” at the start of the studies, says Communications Director Sara Ettermo Repo of the Arctic Students’ Association in Norway.

Student housing for 14.6% of students

Student housing survey 2022 from the Norwegian Students’ Organization (NSO) shows that the national student housing coverage rate is still low, and the need for more is great.

This year, it lost 15,038 homes to reach the national goal of 1 student home for 1 in 5 students. Today’s coverage rate is 14.6 percent.

More student housing reduces pressure on the private rental market and helps reduce rental rates for everyone, NSO wrote in the survey.

The Student Association of Agder is the one with the lowest coverage. They have student housing for 11.75% of students. They are followed by the SiO Student Union and Innlandet with a coverage rate of 12.40 and 13.03 per cent.

Mika Marie Goodall Dam, president of the Norwegian Students’ Organization (NSO), believes the long queues for student housing are appalling.

– We know that many students like to live with cooperatives. It’s a good and safe offer for anyone who is away from home or to a new city. The waiting lists repeat themselves every year. We cannot build enough student housing.

Goodall Dam expects the state, municipalities and cooperatives to work together so that more housing is built for student cooperatives in the future.

Everyone should contribute so that we see a development where more people have the opportunity to live in student housing

The Minister of Education spoke VG Earlier this year, construction of a new student residence was very slow.

What do you think about the fact that the largest cooperatives have raised the rent more than the grant has increased?

This means that students’ financial resources become more vulnerable. We see it in many areas. It has become more expensive to live, it has become more expensive for food and other expenses. Tuition support for students is not adjusted according to the general price increase in the community.

NSO has struggled for a long time for this The student scholarship must be increased.

– What we see this year is that students lose up to NOK 6000 each month if they are going to live on the student scholarship. The biggest expense is rent. The fact that joint ventures help increase this spending item makes me sad.