This summer, students across the country faced challenges in finding housing in their student town.
The private rental market is under huge pressure and Samskipnadene does not have enough student accommodation to meet demand.
Turns out it was close to Tuesday 17,000 students are on the waiting list For a student hostel this year.
Shortage of student accommodation:
– All arrows point in the wrong direction
The associations believe that the government should contribute more to building more houses. At the same time, the responsible minister, Ola Borden Mo (SP), questioned the real need for government financial assistance.
During the break
The government covers about a third of the cost of new student accommodation. According to the Confederation of Norwegian Trade Unions, this is too low for construction projects that are feasible today.
– Then we have to choose between not building or building without subsidies, which will result in higher rents for students, says Hans-Erik Stormon, president of the Cooperative Council.
The student union in the capital, SiO, said this would mean roughly NOK 1,000 more expensive rents for future accommodation.
Higher Education Minister Borden Moe did not rule out that the cost increase was appropriate, but could not understand why students were footing the bill.
He will check the finances
– The real challenge is that co-operatives build far fewer houses than allocate storing funds. They usually have a lot of money, he says, and total equity of several billion kroner.
He adds that he wants to find out how student housing economics actually stands up to associations.
The higher education minister says he will look at the expenditure structure before the state budget is tabled. Here’s from last year’s Central Party National Convention. Photo: Od Arne Hartvikson / TV2
– I think they earn a lot of money, they spend it on other good causes that the students decide for themselves. But I am interested in building houses that we fund.
He will challenge this cooperation in future.
– Strange
President of the student union Sammen på Vestlandet, Amalie Lunde, believes that the minister’s statement is special.
– It is odd that he speculates on our motives for house building and whether we are doing it to make a lot of money. Our profits go to the students and mainly to the houses, says Lunde.
According to the Ministry of Education, 14 fellowships in Norway were completed in 2021, with a total annual result of NOK 334 million.
– The same 14 student cooperatives had equity of more than NOK 5 billion in 2021. The ministry emailed TV 2 saying it had received these figures from the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
Lunde believes the surplus is necessary to maintain the quality of student housing while keeping rents low.
fighting again; Amalie Lunde, president of Samman, will ensure that the association’s profits go to the right cause. Photo: Ørjan Andreassen
– We want students to feel comfortable where they live. Then we can’t build a lot of houses and let them resemble an apartment from the 70s.
– Why can’t cooperatives foot the bill for higher rents when they have extra money on the books?
– In the long run, it’s not possible. Ola Borten Moe is here to watch the whole thing.
– Bad solution
Hans Petter Kvaal, head of samskipnad in Tromsø, says this would be a bad solution for them.
– Then the total profit will disappear and we will not be able to withstand big waves like interest rate hikes, says Kwal.
His proposal is to increase the spending limit set by the government again.
– When the spending frame is the same, how much money is in my pocket doesn’t help.
Borten Moe told TV 2 that he will assess the case and come back with a decision on the national budget in October.
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