In the next few years, new high-rise buildings will appear on the site of the old UWV office behind the Central Station. The project includes space reserved for a student hotel. GroenLinks fears that this will lead to vulnerable students having to pay top prices for a roof over their heads.

Last year, the Nijmegen city council gave the green light to the realisation of new buildings on the site of the now demolished UWV office, behind the Central Station. The complex will include 450 homes and facilities such as catering and a student hotel.

University cities such as Utrecht, Amsterdam and Eindhoven have for some time now been familiar with student hotels, where guests can rent furnished rooms, usually for a maximum period of one year. The prices are considerably higher than on the regular student housing market.

Concerns

Sander van der Goes, city councillor for GroenLinks, is not a fan of this revenue model. He has submitted questions to the Municipal Council. ‘Student hotels tend to specifically attract vulnerable groups on the housing market who have no alternative.’ What’s more, hotel residents are not protected by rent protection legislation, he points out. After all, a hotel is not a house.

Van der Goes is especially concerned that international students will be forced to use the hotel. On the already tight Nijmegen student housing market, these students have an extra hard time, as many landlords and residents prefer Dutch tenants. ‘It would be terrible if international students ended up in financial distress or homeless because of this.’

‘It would be terrible if international students ended up in financial distress or homeless because of this’

With his questions, Van der Goes first of all wants to express his concerns to the municipal council. But he also believes that the councillor responsible can still intervene. ‘At the very least, he can engage in dialogue with the future operator to agree on how students will be treated and the price of the rooms.’

In addition, Van der Goes wants arrangements to be made in the future, next time the municipality enters into an agreement with a developer, to safeguard students’ interests. Van der Goes also admits that it is too late for that in this case.

Petition

Student union AKKU is also closely following developments at the old UWV site. President Nan Lont referred to the student hotel as an anti-social construction. ‘Under the guise of luxury and flexibility, companies make profits on the backs of vulnerable groups,’ he argues. He wonders aloud whether hotels are allowed to rent out a room for an extended period, sometimes as long as a year, without any rent protection.

As no operator is known so far, Lont still hopes to be able to stop the student hotel from being built. AKKU is lobbying hard for this with the municipality, Lont says. There will also be a petition.

Should all these steps fail, the student union is considering legal action. Once the hotel is there and there is a ‘victim’, AKKU plans to start a litigation procedure against the hotel on that person’s behalf.