Dutch company Duwo’s plans met with resistance from students. In the future, the company wants to conduct a preliminary selection of applicants for shared rooms – the project is doomed to failure, the students say.
Housing provider Duwo wants to introduce a new application system for shared apartments in the Netherlands by the end of 2026 and then expand it to other university cities. The company will at least partly decide who is allowed to move. Duwo carries out an initial selection, which can then be chosen by prospective roommates.
“Students without a network, with less access to information or not belonging to certain associations have less chance of getting a place,” the company wrote on its website, according to Dutch daily newspaper AD.
Netherlands: New shared apartment application system criticized
But there is clear resistance to this new model. Critics complain that the reforms will weaken household freedoms if residents can no longer decide for themselves who to invite to meet up in the evenings. Rather than advertising individually on social media, all future room deals will be run through the “Rooms” platform.
The plan also met resistance in the university city of Delft. The local student party, Stip, warned that the home community’s identity could be lost. Committee member Wieger Molkenboer emphasized that living together is a sensitive factor for well-being: “When you share facilities with each other and constantly sit together, it is important that you get along well.”
Negative experience: Students defend themselves against Duwo
Students like Douwe, who have experienced the new procedures in other cities, confirm those concerns. Pre-determined groups increase the risk of not fitting in: If you don’t have the right roommate, you’re out of luck, because someone has to be chosen that night.” He emphasized that shared apartments are an important part of his study time for him.
Study in the Netherlands: More expensive than here
Analysis carried out by Dutch housing platform Kamernet shows that rental prices in the Netherlands are skyrocketing. On average, a room in a shared apartment costs 603 euros, higher than the average price in Germany, where students have to pay 493 euros.
In the capital Amsterdam, renters earn an average of 945 euros. At the same time, the situation on the housing market is tense. According to the “Neuer Ruhr Zeitung”, there is a shortage of 21,500 student spaces across the country, and the trend continues to increase. Experts say this is due to the increasing number of foreign students enrolling at Dutch universities.
According to Statista, by 2022 there will be more than 22,600 Germans trained at Dutch universities.
