Denmark’s subsidised housing for students and young people is only sufficient to accommodate one in 12 students nationally, broadcaster DR reports.
A total of 61,351 applicants were offered a university place this week under the so-called kvote-1 or “quota 1” grades-based system. That number means the number of new university students is around the same as last year.
But they – and many who are already studying – face difficulty finding affordable student housing.
A count by BL – the interest organisation for Danish housing associations (boligforeninger) – shows that the number of subsidised homes for students across the country amounts to only 1 per 12 students.
A boligforening is an association which, owns housing and rents its apartments out to its members. A certain proportion of this housing must be almene boliger (literally, ‘general housing’), a form of subsidised housing. This includes a certain number of ungdomsboliger, student housing and apartments which can only be rented to people in full-time education.
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Because this housing is subsidised, it is available at a much lower rent than any housing on the private market. However, students must register on a waiting list until the they are offered an available apartment or room in student accommodations known as kollegier.
In some cities, including Aarhus and Odense but especially Copenhagen, the waiting lists can be years-long.
Students who live in private rental housing pay an average of 42 percent more rental than those who live in subsidised housing, according to BL’s analysis.
While many cities are building additional student and subsidised housing, Copenhagen is a long way from meeting the necessary supply, BL’s deputy CEO Solveig Råberg Tingey told DR.
That can have serious consequences for students unable to find accommodation before their studies commenced, she noted.
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“A student accommodation is affordable for students and helps give a good start to their studies,” she said.
Copenhagen Municipality has a stated target of building 7,500 new student housing units by 2031, and has built 1,164 since 2019, according to DR’s report.
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