International housing problems: don’t shun, solve.

The signatories of this letter demand that the University of Groningen, the Municipality and SSH stop shying away from their responsibility for properly housing international students. An international student city should also take care of good facilities, otherwise students will stay away and Groningen will get very quiet.

Everyone agrees that there are problems with housing. The student accommodation shortage in Groningen is very high. In the past months, hundreds of internationals had to sleep in hotels or temporary accommodation. Even worse: a number of students have halted their study and returned home, in lack of an alternative. The signatories have watched all parties shunning their responsibilities, to their great disbelief.

The worst problems are now over and the media attention is diminishing. That does not mean we can simply look away. The time has come for solutions. Solutions that all parties will work on. We propose three solutions.

1. The UG should reserve more rooms for international students and take care of proper temporary accomodation for students that still have difficulty finding a room.
2. The Municipality should encourage landlords to welcome internationale students in the private market.
3. SSH should stop using harmful Short Stay contracts. International students are also entitled to a reasonable room for a reasonable price, without legal trickery to circumvent rental protection.

A good international university cannot go without good international housing. We therefore demand that all parties take a serious look at these and other solutions for the housing problem. We look forward to a joint reaction and are very willing to talk with all parties to come to a good solution. Because everyone wants to make sure this drama won’t be repeated.

Henk-Jan Wondergem
Faction chairman Lijst Calimero

Supported by:

Sjoerd Kalisvaart
Chairman Groningen Students’ Union

Adiëlla Boot
Chairman ESN Groningen