A record number have been given student housing – over 15,000 are still in the queue

But there is hope for the roughly 15,000 home seekers. In recent years, the queue at the beginning of August has been reduced by two-thirds by the end of the month.

From 1 May to 1 August, 17,389 students have received student accommodation. That’s nine more than the record from last year. The figures are revealed in a national collection of queue numbers and the number of allocated student housing under the auspices of the Swedish Confederation of Norwegian Communities.

Research and Higher Education Minister Oddmund Hoel (Sp) tells NTB that he is happy to see that the figures are somewhat better than last year, but that he also sees that the need for housing is great. That is why he believes it is crucial to get building activity up.

– It has been a challenge to get enough ready-to-build applications, and in recent years several associations have not been able to build the homes they have received money for. We have therefore increased the cost limit, which makes it possible to apply for more grants. This has had a good effect. We now have record activity in the construction of student housing, with over 3,400 dormitory units under construction.

Oslo has the most queues

Oslo is not unexpectedly the city with the most students in the housing queue. Within the Students’ Association SiO, which also includes Lillestrøm, there are 3,953 students who have been allocated student accommodation since 1 May, but as many as 6,860 people are on a waiting list.

The student union in Western Norway has the second longest queue. Here, 3,407 students are waiting in line, while 3,200 students have been allocated accommodation. The vast majority are students in Bergen, but the partnership also includes Førde, Haugesund, Sogndal and Stord.

The student association in Gjøvik, Ålesund and Trondheim has a somewhat different housing system than other associations. They do not operate with a waiting list, but have stated how many students are on a so-called stakeholder list. There are 2,763 students on this list, while 1,955 students have been allocated accommodation.

– Politicians must take more responsibility

Leader Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak of the Norwegian Student Organization is not surprised that the queues are as long as they are and refers to “spinning” rental prices on the private market and an acute housing shortage in the big cities.

– It is a social responsibility to build more student housing, not only so that more students will have a roof over their heads, but also because it will probably have a cooling effect on the private rental market. The politicians must take a greater share of the responsibility, both locally and nationally, she tells NTB.

The housing shortage has meant that the student associations have had to resort to various solutions, such as temporary accommodation in the form of dormitories or local agreements with municipalities and hotels.

– The need for dormitories to be created shows how badly we need more student accommodation. That it is necessary at all is a result of too few student housing being added over several years, says Hovdenak.