Annual survey shows student housing crisis is getting worse

The student housing crisis in Germany has now reached dramatic proportions, with some students staying overnight in sleeping bags in university sports halls while others have accepted up to two hours of commuting every day to get to lectures. A new survey suggests that more action is urgently needed.

According to the MLP Studentenwohnreport, a survey on student housing conducted once a year since 2019 by financial consultants MLP with the German Economic Institute (Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft or IW), rent levels in the 38 university towns examined rose by 5.1 % in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The biggest increase was in Berlin (9.4%), followed by Leipzig (9.3%). On average, a 30 square metre flat in Munich, Germany’s most expensive university city, now costs more than €800 (US$880) a month including heating.

To put this into perspective, maximum support for students provided via the federal grants and loans scheme (BAföG or Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz) is to increase from €934 to €992 a month, and the flat rate to cover housing costs for students living away from home included in monthly BAföG payments is to be raised from €360 to €380.

With the latter, students eligible for support could just afford a 15 square metre flat in Munich. They would only find a reasonable, affordable flat with heating in two cities, Chemnitz and Magdeburg, both in east Germany.

Flagging construction

The Studentenwohnreport points out that the housing market for students shrank, sometimes by more than 20%, in 2023 compared to 2022. One of the reasons it states for this trend is flagging construction activity.

“Given a continuing decline in planning consents, a further aggravation of the housing market situation appears to be inevitable,” warns Michael Voigtländer, a real estate expert at the IW, noting that this will above all affect the young generation who are seeking housing for the first time and may have to move more often than others anyway.

“Government support can’t keep pace with rapidly rising costs, and only a small share of students are eligible for support anyway. So, both for social and for economic reasons, more impulses for housing construction are urgently needed,” he said in an IW press release.

Furthermore, the Studentenwohnreport refers to the potential impact the housing crisis could have on Germany’s already considerable lack of skilled labour.

It points out that here – concentrating on recruiting international students, whose numbers almost doubled at German universities between the winter semesters of 2012-13 and 2022-23 – is at least part of the solution, particularly given that a disproportionately high share of these students opt for STEM subjects, an area in which the dearth of qualified labour is especially high.

“The demographic challenges and international competition for skilled staff are mounting.

“This means that especially when it comes to international students, it is not enough to offer excellent study programmes. We must also facilitate access to affordable housing,” emphasised MLP CEO Dr Uwe Schroeder-Wildberg in the IW press release.

“This is essential if Germany is to stay an attractive location for academic talent,” he said.

Makeshift accommodation

In Münster, many first-year students are taking advantage of makeshift accommodation with sleeping bags in a university sports hall organised by the student union. Similar arrangements have been made in other German cities in the run-up to the start of the winter semester in mid-October.

In Freiburg, the student welfare service has recommended that students seek accommodation outside the town for the time being and look for more convenient accommodation at a later point.

Commuting is becoming more widespread, with some students travelling up to two hours a day to get to the university.

The student welfare service in Münster, whose waiting list for places in its halls of residence now has more than 3,600 applicants, points out that international students have hardly a chance to find accommodation on the housing market since they frequently lack a sufficient knowledge of German and are unable to visit offers at short notice.

A resource that comprehensively covers information about housing in Germany can be found at this link.

Contact Michael Gardner at michael.gardner@uw-news.com