The Groninger Studentenbond (GsB), the Groningen Students Union, has found in a survey that one of every three International students in Groningen are dissatisfied with their housing
The survey, sent to 355 students, revealed the dissatisfaction. The GsB noted that the housing shortage, present for several years, has affected International students the most. It is further revealed in the survey that 36.7 percent of International students that rent a room through SSH are dissatisfied with their housing. Over 20 percent that rent from private landlords are similarly dissatisfied.
Strikingly, the GsB reveals that about 10 percent of respondents to the survey suggested that they would not have come to Groningen had they known about the housing shortage. The GsB calls this a ‘worrying development’.
A shortage of rooms within the city, which particularly affects International students, has come to the centre of the debate about the Universities in the city and their efforts to recruit more students from overseas. Recent moves to improve the situation have included a covenant to try and end ‘Dutch only’ room listings, between the Universities, student associations, and housing providers.
The GsB represents students from the University of Groningen, and the Hanzehogeschool. Founded in 1965, several of its members have gone onto political careers, including the Socialist Party member of the Tweede Kamer Paul Ulenbelt, and the Groenlinks former Tweede Kamer member Linda Voortman.
