Number of student rooms available in Amsterdam almost doubled during corona crisis
Student accommodation listings in Amsterdam were 94 per cent higher in December 2020 than twelve months before according to data analysis by Folia.
For its research, Folia conducted two searches for student accommodation in Amsterdam on Kamernet and Studentenwoningweb. The editors looked at room availability once on December 13 2019 and once on December 13 2020.
The data research was carried out by seven students of the minor Data Visualisation & Infographics at the Hogeschool Utrecht: Sanne Breuers, Zoë Bonefaas and Wouter van Eden in 2019 and Iris Degen, Lisa van der Hoek, Sander de Jong and Demi Spaargaren in 2020. They collected data by “scraping,” a technique by which the analyst can automatically retrieve data from websites. The students only collected data pertaining to the rooms available, no personal data. The three sites have been notified before publication of the results.
With the number of available rooms jumping from 461 rooms in December 2019 to 904 rooms in 2020, it seems that the corona crisis has made it easier for students to find accommodation. And for cheaper: the average room in 2020 is about 37 euros cheaper than in 2019.
Less demands on tenants
Folia also found that landlords are now less strict in what they require of their tenants. The number of cases in which no value was attached to the gender of the tenant has increased by 15 per cent. The number of rooms in which pets were allowed has increased by 13 per cent.
On the map below you can see the offer of student rooms between December 2019 and 2020. Click on the rooms for more information about the price, facilities included, number of roommates and age requirements.
Already in May last year, Kamernet and student housing providers Duwo and De Key reported that the number of rooms offered had increased by 53 per cent after the start of the corona crisis. Many international students returned to their home countries and the decline in tourism meant there was less competition in the housing market. Some students returned home and left their room for financial reasons. Rooms which were normally intended for international students were rented out to other (international and Dutch) students via Studentenwoningweb.
Many vacant hotel rooms were also made available to students in June. Duwo director Gijsbert Mul said at the time: ‘Filling vacant buildings is a logistical problem, but the waiting time at Studentenwoningweb is still four years. About sixty people are still on the waiting list, so additional construction is an absolute necessity. I hope the municipality does not think otherwise.’
